Lucky Jinx
by PockyNerd
Summary: Elsa was born unlucky and with legal guardianship for her sister denied there looked to be no hope for her future until she found out her "car" wasn't actually a car and her pen wasn't actually a pen. She becomes sucked into the war between Prime and Galvatron and now more ancient transformers are being sucked in with her.
1. Elsa's new car

All the cars look old and rusted but I at least needed a decent looking car to show up in. I hoped it would work to sway the judge in my favor rather than the government's. Finally, I came across a little yellow car with black stripes running across it. I slid into the seat and looked around. The inside was dusty but comfortable. On the steering wheel was an autobot signature. Everyone was getting them somewhere on their car in hopes to pick up some women, look cool in front of their friends, or to sell their cars at outrages prices. It was so common that you couldn't tell an autobot from a normal car anymore. As I ran my fingers over the insignia and felt small electrical impulses. It felt odd but nice and it made me feel safe. It felt as if the car was alive and was choosing me as its owner.

"I like it enough. How much?" I got out and shut the door.

"Um," the salesman looked nervous as he came up next to me, "It actually isn't for sale."

"Why not?"

"Well it…it doesn't exactly run. Here," he reached across the wheel and turned the key. It started up just fine, but a little too loudly for my taste. The man jumped back.

"It sounds like it runs just fine." I tried changing the radio station but it wouldn't budge. "Since the radio's broken…1,500?"

The next thing I knew I was waiting outside an office while he talked to his manager. The black skirt started to have small, dusty stains that I tried to wipe away but it just made everything worse. Of course that would happen. That seemed to be my luck now. Everything I tried to make better or make right turned out worse and worse and worse.

The manager came out and plopped the keys in my lap. "Just take it! I'm sick of it!"

My eyes brightened and I wanted to hug him but instead I ran out and slid back into the seat. My luck was starting to change around.

I turned the engine on and calmly made my way to the court building. As I collected my stuff I said to whatever god or angel or guardian might be next to me, "Wish me luck. Maybe I'll get her back." By the time I came into the courtroom I was shaking and sweating and breathing as if I had ran the whole way.

The entire time the judge was reading my case files I tapped my heel silently and focused on my breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. The courtroom seemed to become crowded despite it being empty and it seemed to grow darker and darker.

Finally, the judge put down the papers, took off her reading glasses, pierced my grey eyes with her brown ones, and said, in a pitiful and cold voice, "Custody for your sister is denied. She shall stay in foster care."

My heart broke and I stood. The lawyer attempted to pull me down and shut me up, "What? Denied? What reason would you have to deny me?" I counted off on my fingers, "I have two jobs, a car that I just bought, I have a three bedroom apartment that we can share and I have a _female_ roommate! What reason-?"

The lawyer finally forced me into the chair. The judge said, "You are a young girl. You just got your GED, when again? A month ago? You only just turned eighteen. You have a bright future ahead of you. Your sister will be better suited with an adult with a real career and a real job, not with a child who can't sit still for five minutes."

Nobody was there to comfort me on the long walk back to my car. In the cramped space of the back seat I put on some shorts that I had stashed in my blue backpack. The stitch of the hibiscus flower still stayed in tact. After I crawled back up to the front seat I just stared out the window.

"I knew it," I whispered to the air around me. "Nothing can be done."

The radio suddenly turned on. Some sad rap that I didn't recognize played on the radio. I growled and hit the dash. "No! Don't turn on! I don't want music!" Finally I gave up and just tried to change the radio station but I stopped when I heard a voice I'd only heard on the news.

"Calling all autobots! Stay on emergency protocol! Stay-"

I tried to change the radio station but it was on every station.

"-on protocol."

"The hell? Whatever. I have to go home." My voice cracked. Home. Where was that now?

I drove to the apartment. Arizona sunsets usually look beautiful. Not today. Today there was no beauty in anything. I parked the car in the parking lot and spent most of the evening on the hood of the car, listening to the radio, which mostly played music but would sometimes cut out to tell us a warning.

I looked through the backpack and scattered around everything that was important to me. There was a pen that grandfather once called a quill that was rumored to grow if it found a new writer, a book that I often wrote in, a sketchpad that belonged to my sister with the word 'Alisha' written across it, and a camera that held my memories and the tapes were scattered around. I smiled, and cried, and laughed as I watched the tapes.

 _"Look! Look! Look! See that? That's Optimus Prime!"_ Alisha squealed while we watched the news.

 _"Is he your favorite autobot?"_

She played with the action figures that came out during the Chicago Crisis. _"No. Bumblebee is. Who's yours?"_

 _"I like Optimus."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"Why? Because he has a lot of little brothers to take care of. And I have one little sister to take care of."_ I tickled her and she squealed. The camera dropped. _"Oh shoot."_ And shut off.

"Calling all autobots…"

I ignored the cry on the radio and I picked up the next tape. This tape wasn't written on. There was no date or name. This was a tape I had never seen before. "Strange," I whispered as I popped the tape in the camera and watched what unfolded. The time stamped _12/30/1990_ and grandpa came up in all his lively action. His smile was back. His grey hairs were back. His old wrinkled skin before the cancer ate away at his life.

 _"I don't have much time,"_ he said to the camera, _"because I fear for my life and the life of my family. I have discovered something only fantasy writers dreamed of! A magical quill and a book. You wouldn't believe it unless I show you. So I am writing down that this 'mole' here will be gone. So here I am writing now…"_ He wrote it in a language I didn't recognize. _"Haha! Here the mole is gone! That, my friends was skin cancer. Although its effects are temporary it's still a powerful tool."_ The Quill came into view. I picked up the pen and stared at it. _"Please, my daughter and granddaughters or grandsons do not use it. Defend it with your life."_ The video cut out.

I stuffed the Quill into my backpack followed by everything else and I jumped into the car. "You know, I have something to admit," this time I spoke to the car, "I…I lied. I don't have an apartment. Only parking outside of it. My roommate kicked me out this morning. I just wanted my sisters back." I put my head in my lap.

"Calling all autobots. We are meeting at…"

"Oh shut up! There aren't any autobots here!" I yelled at the radio.

I was answered with a, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't shoot the messenger!"

The radio dials turned on their own free will. I stared with my mouth open.

"What? Cat got your tongue now?"

"No way…" the words were forced from my chest.

"Better believe it kid. Now, buckle up!"

I took the buckle and pushed it into its lock. The car jerked backwards and sped out of the parking lot. I couldn't help but grin. "Oh my god! You really are an autobot!" I ran my hand through my hair. "Okay, okay, which one are you?"

"Bumble…bee," the answer was chopped up based on what words were spoken on the radio at the moment.

This was amazing but one question still came out, "Where exactly are we headed?"

"Do you always talk this much?" It answered.

"Fine, fine, I won't ask." I watched the suburban landscape turn rural. The stars slowly multiplied. I bit my lip as Bee came to a slow stop. I got out. "You could have just left me at the apartment."

Bee transformed. The transformation seemed slow but it was over in a second. The transformation took my breath away. "Oh no, girl," it was a black man's voice. It nearly made me laugh as the voice changed again. "Not after the sob story you told me."

I laughed and covered my mouth. "Oh my god! This is incredible!" Tears escaped my eyes and I wiped my eyes quickly. The tears came from their own accord and I started to cry and my cry turned into a sob.

Bee got down on what I assumed to be his stomach and tried to comfort me much like how a child might comfort a pet hamster. "Why are you crying now?"

"I…my little sister always wanted to meet you. I just…thought of her," I admitted. "It's my fault…" I breathed out the words.

Before Bee could ask a question he jumped up. The ground shook and toppled me onto my back. I never did have the best balance in the world. Other cars from all different directions came from the uncharted desert and transformed before my eyes. I looked around at the robotic figures standing before me now.

Optimus Prime was the most amazing to see. I was so taken aback I missed most of their conversation. They greeted each other not unlike how humans greet each other; they were just a mess of manly hugs and 'how have you been' type of talk.

Bee finally remembered my presence and his fingers surrounded my body in a cage. Now I knew how a lizard felt whenever I trapped it in my palm.

"Bee, what do you have there?" A voice asked.

"Nothing," he lied. Why was he lying?

"Then you won't mind showing me your hands."

My body jerked with the motion into one of his fingers. My head filled with ringing as I groaned in pain. Slowly his fingers forced open and the light of the full moon filled my space.

"It's just a human girl! Why were you keeping it from us?"

"Stop fighting with him, Crosshairs. I'm sure Bumblebee has a good explanation." Prime turned to Bee. All eyes were on us. Bee made a sound like a wounded puppy.

I stood with my hands up in the air to show I was friendly. "Um, excuse me!" I yelled until their attentions were on me. "Hi, my name is Elsa, it's nice to meet you Optimus Prime." I waited a moment longer than I needed to. The silence became awkward. "Um…he was doing me a favor. I needed a moment alone." I shrugged and waited. If Prime knew it was a lie he never showed it and never told a soul.

"It seems it was a misunderstanding," he merely said to Bee. "But we can't bring her with us. We can't put any more humans in danger."

Bee made that wounded puppy sound again.

"What kind of danger?" I asked more out of curiosity than anything else.

"An evil is looking for any combination of the Thirteen Artifacts." Prime explained.

Something about that seemed familiar but I let him continue.

"We need to find them before he does."

"Thirteen Artifacts?" I muttered them under my breath and closed my eyes. Under my eyelids I saw grandpa in the hospital bed. Alisha was snuggled up with him with the book in her hands.

 _"Now keep that book safe, Alisha. They say it's one of Thirteen Artifacts…or so I think it says in the book but I could be wrong…"_

I opened my eyes as Bee put me on the ground. "I'll return her tomorrow," Bee admitted but as he did I yelled in unison, "I think I know where one is!"

Prime carefully got to my level so as not to shake the ground too much and topple me over.

"But," I continued, "it'll be hard to get to." I didn't want to tell him the truth; that the book was with Alisha and I wasn't exactly welcome company at her foster home.


	2. Galvatron

It was decided that I would lead them to Alisha in the morning and, as I looked at my cell phone, my hope to meet Alisha outside of her home became lost in a sea of sadness and grace couldn't be found there. "No signal," I muttered coldly.

Sleep never came over me. I was up all night, staring at the stars, and tracing each constellation as I named them. Once the sun's rays were visible over the mountains in the east we took off toward the city. When the signal finally came back I called Alisha. The secret cell phone I paid for since she was taken away from me rang only twice before she picked up.

"Ellie!" She yelled in a half whisper.

"Hey, Allie-bear," I wanted to cry but I kept it at bay for as long as I could. "You know Grandpa's book?"

"Yeah, it's in my room under my bed…or it was."

"What do you mean 'was'?" I nearly yelled it out.

"Well…" Her voice, I realized, had matured in the last year to be an awkward in between voice of a near teenager. "A robot came and tore up the house this morning. I was only able to get my phone before Ginger came and grabbed us all. When I finally came back it was gone."

Bee stepped on the brakes making the caravan stop. Had he heard the entire thing?

"Allie, did it have a name?" I pursed my lips and closed my eyes hoping it would be anybody but the Megatron everyone told about.

"I think someone said Galvatron?"

My lungs burned with holding my breath for so long. "Gotta run," I said and got out of Bee and walked up to Prime. "Who is Galvatron?"

"Where did you hear that name?" He asked while everyone around us waited patiently for orders.

"My little sister's foster home was just attacked by a Galvatron. He possibly took the book you guys are looking for."

"This is bad," Crosshairs finally said from behind Prime.

"We have to make sure he doesn't get the Quill." Prime ordered as they transformed.

"But how are we going to protect something we don't even have?" The bigger one asked.

"I don't know, Hound," Prime admitted in a defeated voice. "Bee, take the human girl home."

Bee nearly flinched at the idea. "You are kidding, right? This poor girl has no home! She has nobody but me."

"Well that just cannot be true! There has to be someone!" Crosshairs put his hands on his hips. He almost reminded me of a sassy woman when he did.

"No, nobody," I said. "My parents died a few years ago and I was never one for making friends and my coworkers don't really like me all that much. My roommate kicked me out too. I really don't have a lot."

Everyone took pity but Prime's command stayed. Bee needed to take me back where he found me, as he put it. How did Bee not know I have the Quill? I didn't want anybody to know either. Defend it with your life, grandpa said. Truth be told if I told them I was afraid they would just take it from me and drop me off all alone anyway.

Bee dropped me off at the apartment. After he took off I took out the Quill and stared at it. On the side there was writing that seemed to change when I first took it.

 _"That means it chose you. Only you can change the future."_

 _"It's a pen, gramps."_

 _"No, it is a quill."_

I couldn't help but laugh. "It's a pen," I told myself, "that can change the future." Then I remembered something else.

 _"Never learn that language, my dear Elsa. For if you do there will be nothing stopping you from gaining power."_

"It's useless to me. That's why he gave it to me."

 _"Alisha, if you figure out the language please never learn to write it."_

"And that's why she was given the book…"

All the pieces seemed to fall in and out of place drastically.

A jet flew overhead. It flew too low for it to be a US fighter jet and the only base I could think of with anyone who would be in Air Force training was still some 30 minutes away and they never fly over cities. I shoved the pen in my backpack and followed its direction until it changed directions. I climbed a ladder to a restaurant's roof just as it flew close enough to touch the roof and it transformed into a robot I didn't recognize.

Quickly, before I was seen, I jumped down and ran back to the apartment building. It jumped in front of me. I was frozen with the winter inside fear to the point that a scream wasn't even possible.

"Well look at what I found," it said and scooped me up as if I were a bug. Its fingers tripped me so I fell backward into his palm and his fingers wrapped around me like I was a doll. It didn't hesitate to take off into flight. It happened so fast that I didn't know what to do or how to get away or who to call.

I screamed now. I screamed because nothing was fair and everything I did, no matter how much I thought it was the right thing, always turned around on me. I screamed because I was scared of whom this transformer would take me to and what they wanted and what they would do if I became useless to them. I screamed because I was out of ideas and I was done with this life. I would trade my luck and life for anybody else's now.

For only a few minutes I was surrounded by a quietness that comes just after you've had a good cry. The only sound I heard was the sound of wind wrapping around my ears. Then my captor landed, "I have brought for you a gift, Galvatron." The robot held me out to his master and bowed.

Air caught in my throat and choked me. His master resembled a little bit like Megatron but he was also a little bit newer in style. Galvatron looked more menacing than anybody could have imagined.

"Haven't I seen this human before?" He rubbed his chin then waved away the thought. In his hand was the book. It looked so normal in his hands but in Alisha's hands it took both of us to carry it everywhere. Sometimes I was the only one carrying it.

"This was the human you saw conversing with the autobots?"

The robot confirmed it.

"Very good, Starscream. We'll take her with us as a hostage."

Hostage? What could he possibly want from the autobots? I couldn't bring myself to ask. I don't think I wanted to know the answer. The one he called Starscream stood and transformed into the fighter jet I had followed. It trapped me inside the domed cage of glass.

I wanted to look around in my backpack and make sure nothing dropped but in the cramped space I couldn't do it.

I watched Galvatron transform into a semi, a different type than Prime, and Starscream followed him all the way out into the desert. Prime and his autobots were taken by surprised to see Galvatron and Starscream. Starscream dropped down just behind Galvatron. The height they were when they were standing in their full form was drastically different, I realized. They stood higher than small mountains.

"What do you want, Galvatron?" Suddenly Prime's voice filled the quiet air. It was cold and, almost, scary.

"I want the Quill, Prime! Where is it?"

 _He thinks Prime has the pen!_

"I don't know what you're talking about, Galvatron!"

"Oh don't be like that. Especially not with your little human's life in my hands." Suddenly I was flung into the air. I covered my eyes, afraid to hit the ground, but I was caught midair by Galvatron.

"That wasn't very fun!" I felt nauseas. Wind rushed around me as Galvatron put his hand out to show everyone who it was. He put his palm out in a way that I sat in the middle of his hand.

"Let her go!" Prime yelled. "She has nothing to do with this fight!"

"Oh, but she has everything to do with it. After all you were the ones who brought her into it."

Only if that were true. My grandfather had introduced me to the fight of good and evil long ago. While Galvatron spoke I ran from his palm to his wrist but he just simply picked me up from my backpack and held me out.

"I would hand over the quill. Humans don't do well when dropping at such a great height."

After a moment of dangling I started to swing myself forward and backward, using my legs to help me out.

"We don't have it!" The Hound growled. "Just let the girl go."

"Hey, now fellas, I do have a legitimate name." I yelled but nobody would listen and I knew that. I looked at Bee, catching his eyes full of worry. "Hey Bee! Catch me!" I let my arms slip out of my backpack and I flung myself outward and closed my eyes for fear he really wouldn't catch me.

I felt wind rush me from Galvatron attempting to catch me by the legs and I felt a hand come around me. When I looked up I was staring at Bee's face.

"No!" Galvatron growled and threw the backpack. Bee turned around and protected me from gunfire. The Hound protected Bee while Crosshairs went after Starscream.

"Bee!" I yelled up at him and he listened. "Bee, my backpack! We have to get it!"

"Now?"

I nodded. "Please! Trust me!"

Bee nodded and ran when the gunfire seemed to pause. His free hand covered me in a protective casing so that ricocheting bullets wouldn't injure me. When he got to the backpack he set me down and I grabbed it. Soon everything stopped and the ground rumbled with the other autobots surrounding me to make sure I hadn't been injured.

"Was getting the backpack really worth it?" Crosshairs asked as he rolled his eyes.

I pulled out the Quill and smiled as I checked it out. "Yep." I looked up. Everyone was in shock at what they were seeing except for Bee.

"What is it?" He asked.

"That is the Quill…but how did you…?" Prime couldn't finish his question.

"My grandfather found it long ago. He found the book too and when he died he entrusted Alisha and me to protect them but with the promise that I wouldn't figure out how to read or write the language and Alisha wasn't allowed to write the language. He somehow managed to decode it. I don't know how."

I handed the Quill to Prime, I was amazed at the reconstruction to fit Prime's hand. Now it really did look like a quill rather than a human pen and it shown in a golden color. Prime inspected it before handing it back. "It seems that I was wrong. You are just as much apart of this war now."

"Hey, kid," I turned to the Hound, "how did you know Galvatron wouldn't keep your backpack?"

I shrugged. "I didn't. I just kinda rolled with it." I kept the part that really I was scared of the lengths Galvatron might go to. I was scared for my life and I didn't care what I left behind in the backpack at that moment but thinking about it now, had Galvatron kept my backpack or destroyed it I would be mad at myself forever.

Crosshairs and the Hound laughed in a hysteria. "I like her, can we keep her, Prime?" They asked. It was like I was their pet now.

Prime set down his palm and I stepped into it so that he lifted me to meet his eyes.

"Promise me you'll defend that Quill."

"I promise, Prime. Promise me you'll get the book from Galvatron. It needs to be returned to its rightful owner."

"That it does." Somehow by the tone of his voice he didn't mean the owner was my sister but I didn't say anything else.


	3. The Quill and Covenant

I kept the Quill at the bottom of my backpack while Bee and I waited for Prime and the others to retrieve the book. I sat in the back seat, eating a burger in a parking space of a motel.

"How much longer till they get back, do you think?" I asked Bee who gave me an 'I don't know' sound. I sighed and took out my camera and started watching more of the unmarked video until my cell phone vibrated. "Yeah?" I said into the phone.

It was Alisha calling from a payphone. "Can you come get me?"

"Where are you, Allie?" I wiped my mouth with my napkin. She was one of those runaway foster children but I always took her back to her foster parents. One would think with that kind of record that I was a responsible adult…if you take out the lying to the judge part.

Once I was given the cross streets I told Bee to drive me. She sat waiting near a payphone in front of a gas station. She wouldn't look at me when she got in. "What were you thinking?" I scolded as soon as she buckled in.

"I couldn't stay in that stupid hotel anymore," she muttered. Her blond hair was matted with dreads.

I combed my hands through it. "Don't you have a brush?"

Alisha shook her head.

I groaned. "Allie…"

"Please! Can't you take me with you!" She gripped my shirt.

"I can't," I pat her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. Tears were forming in mine and she was lost in a nasty blur. "Allie-bear, I can't take you with me."

"Why not?" She pushed me away and looked out the window.

"Because, if you stay with me you'll be in danger and not only that I will be a fugitive. Its bad enough I lied to a judge."

"But…"

Bee interrupted, "She's in a lot of trouble. She's just trying to protect you."

Alisha's green eyes widened and she looked at me. I smiled and whispered, "Well say something to him." But she couldn't. She just stared at the radio.

"Don't tell me you're a mute too!" Despite the tone it was obvious Bee was trying to light up the mood.

"Wow! Is that…?"

"Bee this is my sister, Alisha. She's the one who was supposed to protect the book. Alisha this car is Bumblebee. I kind of got him for free. I guess he was causing trouble."

Alisha laughed. We stopped at a police station. We got out and I took her up to a cop who was just getting back and explained the situation. He was more than willing to take the extra few minutes to take her back. I ran back to Bee and got in before I could start crying. As we drove away I finally broke down in a mass of sobs.

"It's always hard leaving a brother-sister like that." The correction made me chuckle.

"You don't know the half of it, Bee." I sniffed and wiped my eyes. We drove back to the motel parking lot and waited for Prime to come back. He didn't bring the book with him.

"What's the problem?" I asked as they drove up. People gave me weird looks for talking to a semi but they were even more freaked when they heard it talk back. Some even ran inside possibly to call the government.

"We cannot locate them." He explained. "We must warn your government that Megatron is back."

"The government?" The wind picked up bringing with it the smell of petrichor. It was going to rain soon. "Are you sure they'll be of much help?"

"They may not be of any help to you but they could help us track down Galvatron and the book."

I bit my lip and nodded. "It'll take a while to get there."

"Don't worry about that. If anything happens we'll just do what we always do! Shoot 'em till they're dead!" Crosshairs sounded almost cocky and very arrogant.

A laugh wiggled its way out from my lungs.

"What's so funny?" Bee asked.

"Just…this whole thing is fantastical! I never thought that, in all my luck, I'd meet transformers. I…I just feel like I'm dreaming."

Soon we headed out for Washington D.C. I stared at the Quill and at the letters. The letters suddenly seemed to transform in front of me to spell out my name. I blinked and looked closer.

"El?" Bee's voice sounded concerned.

"I'm fine, Bee," I shoved the Quill in my backpack. I could see myself in the rearview mirror. I looked almost exactly like my sister. We both had the same blond hair and that pale skin that never tanned but I had grandpa's stormy eyes and his inquisitive smile and his curiosity.

We wanted to stay low so we headed out in a caravan of vehicles. Sometimes we stopped so I could stretch out or switch cars so I could better fall asleep. We finally stopped in a desert only a few states over. Despite their vehicle form we were in the middle of Texas. How fast exactly were they going?

Bee sat down and I climbed him so that I sat on his shoulder. I stared at the Quill. "How did this end up here?" I finally asked Prime.

"When Cybertron was still a new planet there were only thirteen of us. They created artifacts and relics not unlike the one you hold in your palm. They soon realized their power was too great and sent them to worlds that were still new. These just landed here."

I stared at him. "I see."

"How did you come across it?" He acted like the question had been itching at him the entire time.

"My grandfather found it in the Congo. He knew it didn't belong to the tribes around it. He found the book close by it and figured out what it was for. He figured out your language and read the book, the history and the prophecies. He realized there would be evil…well aliens coming after it and made us swear to never use it." I sighed and put the Quill back in the bottom of the bag. "He was afraid we would use it too often and the power would eventually corrupt us."

The desert air in Texas was different than in Arizona. The air was cooler here, and the mountains seemed flat compared to the peaks of the White Tanks. There were also many more stars to look at.

I took out the camera after a long while of watching the night sky and I watched my grandfather instead. The camera was pointed at many symbols in the book. _"It looks as if this Solus Prime created the book…I wonder who she is. She dies later on by an ally. Sad, really."_ I smiled and laughed, as the next scene was a younger version of myself running in, squealing. Alisha was only a baby then.

 _"Oh! Ellie! I forgot you were coming today. Now, say good night to your future self."_ Grandpa picked me up despite the pain and sickness.

 _"Good night me!"_

Grandpa laughed and the tape was finished.

I don't remember falling asleep I only remember waking up just as we came into a forest. We were already in another state.

Deep in the forest everyone transformed again and Bee put me on his shoulder while we gathered around in a circle.

"The Hound and I will go ahead to the military base. You three stay here."

Bee made a disapproving sound. "Why do you always have all the fun?" He folded his arms and shook his head.

"If we're being followed you can warn us before they get to their base."

"Base? Do you mean the Pentagon?" When he nodded I continued, "I was under the impression we were going to Washington D.C."

"That is not who we want to talk to."

I couldn't help but laugh. "No, of course not. All the President does is sit around on his desk all day until another alien attack." This made Crosshairs laugh. Prime shook his head at the childishness.

"What about the Quill?" I asked him.

"Galvatron does not know you have it. It will be safer with you here than with me."

I nodded. "Yeah got it."

The three of us watched Hound and Prime take off. We waited for some sign for either them or Galvatron. Finally, Crosshairs spoke, "Didn't Starscream die?"

Bee nodded.

"Then why is he back?"

It sounded like a conversation created out of boredom. "Maybe he created a new one. It's the only explanation." I explained.

"But how is that possible?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. You tell me."

We sat in silence again. I kicked my legs and held on tightly every time Bee moved. Soon minutes turned into an hour, which turned into two.

"Where are they?" I complained.

"They'll be back soon, maybe."

"Thanks, Crosshairs, that makes me feel so much better." I rubbed my head. A soft sound, like a muffled shot, pierced the air. The next thing I knew I was being flung into the air and landed on my stomach. I rolled and groaned. Bee's back was facing in the direction of the shot and he made sure I was okay.

"I'm fine, Bee."

Crosshairs was on alert with his guns drawn. My heart pounded in my ears and in my throat. Starscream came into view and I hid behind a tree. Bee stood and got ready for a fight.

"What happened here?" The transformer mocked. "Finally ditched Prime?"

"I'd watch it if I were you." Crosshairs pointed the gun in his face.

Without warning Galvatron came from the trees and tackled Bee. They rolled toward me and I ran down the short steep hill until we came to a river. I quickly jumped out of the way and looked around me. At the top of the hill Starscream and Crosshairs battled it out and with me was Bee and Galvatron. Where was the book? It couldn't be far. I ran back up the hill, carefully maneuvering myself around large feet and the gunfire. I went where Galvatron had jumped out.

I screamed when Crosshairs was flung at me. His body just barely missed. He looked beat up but he still sat up, breathing heavily. "What are you still doing here?" He whispered as Starscream approached.

"The book! They don't have it!"

"Of course we didn't bring the book with us!" Starscream laughed. "Do you take us for fools?"

"I really don't think you want me answering that…" I muttered under my breath. With each step he took I took several steps backward until I tripped over a fallen tree and flipped onto my back. There, behind the fallen tree, was the book. I scrambled to get up and open the cover.

Crosshairs shot at his enemy when he was picked up.

The book's mysterious letters turned into English alphabets. It was beautiful and amazing and almost fantastical. I skimmed through the contents. Everything here was written from the time Prime came to Earth. Some details were just downright wrong but for the most part it paralleled their lives. I flipped through the pages until I came across a blank page.

Bee was flung up the hill and into Crosshairs.

With shaking hands I grabbed the Quill from the bottom of my backpack and started to write. It looked like I was writing English but as soon as I took my hand away the letters seemed to change. It wasn't English. What was I writing? Still, I knew exactly what I wrote.

 _Prime shoots at Galvatron while his guard is down._

"The human has the Quill!" Galvatron yelled at his subordinate.

"Run!" But I didn't need to be told to run. I was already running away from the book with the Quill still in my hand.

"Duck!" It was Prime's voice. I jumped at the ground and that soft muffled sound came again and the shot whizzed just inches from my head. Galvatron flew backward. I didn't move when Prime ran after him and I still didn't move when the Hound followed. I couldn't bring myself to run.

When I finally did move Galvatron had fled and left the empty body of his subordinate behind. Bee and Crosshairs were being tended to, their wounds could have been much worse.

The Hound was beating himself up about not getting the book and letting it out of his sight. Crosshairs rubbed his temples. "Shut up! You're giving me a headache!"

Bee turned to me and made a sighing sound.

"Yeah I know," I pat his foot. "But I'm okay."

"That is not why Bee is sighing," Prime corrected. "You used the book and Quill…didn't you?"

I looked away from him and nodded. "Yeah. I was scared. I had to. Bee and Crosshairs…I was scared that they would die."

"Power is tempting in situations that are dire." He sounded wise beyond his years. His huge finger fit under my chin and he raised my head so I was forced to look at him. "But you should never give in to the temptation of saving lives. Death does not like to be cheated and you are no god." Without waiting for an answer he added, "Now that they know who has the Quill that is what they will be after next."

"Then shouldn't we hide the Quill?" Crosshairs asked.

"Yes. We will hide it."

I looked down at the pen. It looked like any other human black pen. "Prime, shouldn't you…destroy it? If you can't use one without the other can't we just destroy the Quill?"

Every eye was on Prime now. He shook his head. "They should go to their rightful place."

"And where is that?"

Prime didn't answer. I hated questions that were left unanswered. I screamed, "I am just as apart of this mission as you four are, Optimus Prime! You can either trust me or I am taking this damnable pen and I will destroy it!"

Everyone was frozen with shock. Had nobody talked to Prime like this? Prime turned to me and nodded. "It needs to go back to the Hall of Records and buried there so nobody can ever use it again."


	4. No Soldier

We told everyone in the Pentagon of the situation and of our plan. "Where is the Hall of Records?" One soldier asked.

"It is somewhere here on earth," Prime answered.

After the speeches from everyone but me the general said to me. "I'm glad to see them back, kid. Make this country proud." He looked at me as if I was a soldier but I wasn't a soldier. I was just a poor girl that got wrapped up in a nasty situation.

By the time it was all over the air grew humid and the clouds became storm clouds and my stomach growled. "What now?" I asked.

"Now, we do nothing." Prime led the caravan.

"Do nothing? That seems kind of…anticlimactic." I got in and shut the door just as Bee started to follow them.

"He doesn't like fighting." Bee answered in a semi sarcastic tone.

We drove back home and I slept in the backseat for most of the way. When we crossed the border I checked the voicemail of my cell phone. It was only my boss that called me. While I called back the autobots split up so that I was left alone with Bee and I made up some excuse to my boss of being sick and forgetting to call in and that I was still sick.

Bee and I sat in silence for most of the night. I held my backpack close as I fell asleep.

 _I ran and ran and ran. I wasn't out of breath and I wasn't sure what I was running from but I knew I needed to run! I needed to get far away from here! The forests turned into swamps, which turned into deserts and I nearly tripped over my own feet._

 _Suddenly the ground turned into a steep incline and I was climbing up the sand onto flat ground to a world I never knew. I looked down and saw Starscream curse me. I laughed in a hysteria and crawled forward toward the a cherry tree. I couldn't get up, every time I did my legs turned to rubber and I fell face first so I just continued to crawl. A robot foot appeared, replacing the tree that was once there. The robot scooped me up into his hand and lifted me to his face. He was made of purple clay. I screamed for Prime and Bee and anybody I knew but nobody came._

 _"Quiet, girl!" He answered and walked forward. His voice was replaced with my grandfather's. "You're making my head hurt." He handed me over to Galvatron. "Now, the Covenant of Primus."_

 _Galvatron handed it over and somehow also handed over the Quill, which looked like the golden quill Prime held when he touched it!_

 _I screamed at him to not use it but he scribbled something in it anyway and turned to show Galvatron. It said, "Prime dies…"_

I gasped and held my chest. My heart was beating faster than it should have. It felt very cramped in the car so I scrambled out. Bee made a worried sound.

"I'm fine. It was just a nightmare." I told him but I wasn't fine. Would Prime die if I handed over the quill? Slowly and mechanically I played the video of my grandfather. I was rewinding and watching the tape again and again like there was some hidden answer to all of my troubles.

 _"This holds the history of all of these beings from Cybertron! It's amazing! Here, here, this says a few of the Thirteen will go corrupt…or maybe that says will go to Europe. I haven't fully gotten the hang of the language yet. This is so…"_ The video cut out momentarily. _"Oh my god! I saw it here! There is this thing called Hall of Records. It has…well records probably of this Cybertron. Too bad Witwicky isn't doing his explorations anymore."_ The video cut out and he started to look older and sicker. _"I think the Hall is somewhere here, in the uncharted places of Russia."_ I paused the video and memorized the huge circle.

"I think I know where the Hall is, Bee. Can you tell Prime its somewhere in Russia?"

Bee left me in the parking lot of the motel and I paid to stay the night. I followed the numbers down and across until I found mine and fumbled with the key. My hands started shaking again. An obnoxious _vroom_ of a car sounded behind me. I turned to see an old ex-boyfriend coming to show off another one of his new cars.

James got out of the car and approached cautious of any hostility that may follow. "I heard what happened," he said gently. His car was purple with white stripes going across it. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

I snorted and fumbled even more with the key. "No," I snapped. I couldn't get the key in its lock.

He took my hand to keep me from shaking and help me fit the key into the lock. "Ellie…"

"Elsa!" I corrected.

"Fine, Elsa, or whatever you want to be called. It's been three years. Why so much hostility?"

I turned on my heels and pushed him to his car. "Why do you think? You can't just…just go off with another woman and when that marriage turns sour come crawling back to me every single time! You can't do that! I haven't had one relationship because of you-!"

Now he broadened his shoulders to make himself look bigger and more intimidating. With each step he took I took one back. "It isn't my fault if _you_ can't trust people anymore, Elsa! The reason _you_ haven't had a boyfriend or any close friends is because of _you_!" I was pinned against the door. It was still locked and I didn't want to turn around.

He inhaled and took a step back. "You can't blame others for your problem. I was coming here hoping to help out a friend but it's obvious you just want to stew in your anger." James turned on his heels and started walking toward the car. I sighed and took the key from the lock.

"What kind of help, James?" I shoved the key in my pocket and approached slowly.

"It's late. Dinner, perhaps?"

"Yeah. Okay. Just let me wait for someone. Where were you thinking?" As if on cue Bee parked next to him. The timing was almost too perfect for it to be true.

James peered into the car, looking for the driver. I kicked his car to get his attention. He didn't need to know that my "car" wasn't really a car. He cleared his throat. "Your favorite fast food restaurant?"

"Fine then. Follow me." Bee allowed me to take control of the wheel.

"Who is that?" He asked through the radio.

"That is my ex-boyfriend James."

"Want me to teach him a lesson." Bee sounded way too pleased at the idea.

"No," I laughed, "unless he gets too comfortable."

Soon James and I were sitting outside chowing down on the most unhealthy meal a man could dream of; three-by-three burger with fries and a chocolate shake. I didn't realize just how hungry I really was. In all of my depression I wasn't listening to my body's growl of hunger and in all of my adrenaline I didn't realize how much food I was burning off. I ate the entire thing quickly but paid the price with nausea later.

I sat on Bee's hood while James only leaned against him.

"So what do you think of the whole Transformer business that's been going on in the past…decade or so?" James finally asked after the silence grew uncomfortable.

I could feel bee almost perk up, trying to listen closely. I shrugged. "It's become apart of everyday life now. Transformers are like…I don't know superman I guess."

"I don't think it's fair they've used earth as their personal war ground."

I rolled my eyes. "It isn't like that, James."

"What is it like then?" He eyed me up and down, trying to pry something out of me.

"They're our protectors from others that want to do the universe harm. Like Megatron, for example! Without them we would be on the brink of extinction."

"Yeah…extinction…I would think with all of your bad luck you'd want to die." This comment made Bee upset. He jerked forward, forcing James to trip and land on his burger. Yellow mustard stained his once perfect red hair and ketchup stained his nice tie. I smacked the hood.

"Sorry, it's like it has a mind of it's own." I explained coolly.

"Piece of…" James thought it better not to finish as he sat up. "You know, these autobots destroyed a good chunk of forest." He attempted to get the stain out of his shirt.

"Do you know why?" I faked a bored look.

"No. Everything is torn like they were looking for something, though. Your grandfather found something foreign, didn't he?"

"It was just a pen," I laughed. "Who cares?"

The sound of a semi filled the quiet and hostile air. We turned to see Prime driving by. I shoved everything into a bag and threw it into a trashcan. Didn't Bee tell him about Russia? Shouldn't they be on their way?

James went inside to tend to his stains and I got off Bee. "What's he still doing here?"

"Ma'am, do I look like his babysitter?"

I kicked his hood leaving a muddied shoeprint. "Don't talk to me like that!"

"Wow," James' voice made me jump. "I knew it! I knew that car didn't just bump me on accident and I knew it didn't just conveniently drive up!"

"Shh! Keep it down!"

"So which one are you?" James demanded.

Before I could tell Bee otherwise he transformed. James stared up in awe. "Bumblebee…" he whispered.

Bee scooped me up in his hands and settled me on his shoulder.

"So…you're like his pet!" James laughed. Bee didn't seem to like that much. He knelt, ready to flick him away.

"Bee!" I scolded. "Don't do it, let's just get out of here."

"So wait!" James continued to yell. "Why is he here still? There's no reason for-!"

"Galvatron…its Megatron reborn. He's looking for something to possibly write the future and change all of it. We're trying to get it away from him."

James rolled his eyes. "Fine, don't tell me." His nonbelieving voice still made my chest ache with anger. He never believed me with anything so why did I still try? Maybe I liked pain. Maybe I liked being depressed. Maybe the world had no luck for me.

I sighed and looked at Bee. "Hey, let me down and he'll take me back to the motel."

The yellow robot made a type of complaining noise.

"I'll be fine, Bee. What's the worst thing that could happen?"

Reluctantly he let me down. "Fine but I'm following the entire way."

"Wow…kind of possessive." James whispered.

I only answered him with a shove as I got into his car. I didn't explain until he started driving. As I was talking I watched him closely, watching his guarded expression, the twitch of his mouth and hands, and I watched the car. There was something off about the car. It felt…alive, like the first time I entered Bee. It was the same, electrical feeling as Crosshairs but it had the same old wisdom as Prime. I didn't say anything about it. When I finished he drove in an awkward silence. It was long and too quiet.

Finally I spoke, "You passed the motel."

"Oh," he quickly corrected himself and flew into the parking lot before Bee could grab his car. "Can you show me this…Quill?"

I shook my head and got out. "One thing I forgot to mention…I don't have it." I shut the door and approached the door of my room. Now my hands weren't shaking and it was easier to unlock the door.

"Where is it?" He yelled out the window.

"Prime took it from me! He said something about returning it to Cybertron." I didn't wait for a response before stepping through the door and slamming it closed.

Bee's face appeared at the window. "You lied to him…"

It wasn't a question but I answered anyway after opening the window. "I don't trust him or his car, Bee. There's something off here. Something way off. Someone doesn't just show up at their ex's feet and then asks random questions about you guys out of curiosity. No, there's something wrong here."


	5. Past Instincts

The next morning Prime, Bee, and I met up in the desert area behind the motel near a hiking trail. I had a hat on to make it look like I was a legitimate hiker and I even bought some water. I sat on Bee's shoulder as we relayed to Prime the mysterious approach of my ex.

"Until he proves a threat we will ignore him," Prime commanded.

I still couldn't shake off the weird, electrical feeling I had. Crosshairs and Hound were checking out Russia along with the soldiers the Pentagon provided, Prime relayed to us. He had decided to stay behind for better protection of the Quill.

I made my way back alone on the hiking trail while Prime and Bee thought of plans to protect the Quill and to protect me. James waited in the parking lot. I tried to ignore him while I walked past him alone.

"Come on, you can't just ignore me after the time we had last night!" He jumped out of the car and cut me off from my room.

"Nothing happened last night." I tried to step around him but he stepped in front of me.

"We had a moment, you can't possibly tell me you didn't feel it too."

 _No, I had a moment with your car. I didn't have a moment with you._ "Me and Bee have moments, James. You and I had a conversation. A very private one, too." I turned around to go to the front desk but he caught my backpack and pulled me back. He was beginning to get on my nerves.

"You still don't trust me." He concluded under his breath.

"Not with my life."

James sighed and let me go. "Fine…I don't need you to trust me." There was poison in his tone. The sounds of robotic transformation sounded in a second and a hand picked me up before I could react to it. I turned to look up at my captor. It looked like Prime and like Galvatron but it wasn't an autobot or a decepticon. This one was purple with a white beard that noted his age was beyond Prime's. "You lied to me when you said Prime had the Quill, Elsa!" James screamed from below.

A scream ripped from my throat and I jumped from the hand. It still caught me and lifted up his palm. "Bee!" I screamed.

"Where is the Quill?"

"Why do you want it?"

"Oh I don't want it. I'm helping out a friend. Meet my friend Alpha Trion."

"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance despite the unruly circumstance." Trion said in a low, grumbling voice that reminded me much of an old war veteran. There was a cold warmth to it as well.

"I would say 'it is a pleasure' but like you said, unruly circumstances keep it from being pleasant." I went to jump off his hand again but he caught me carefully by my backpack and shook me out of its straps onto his hand. He handed the backpack to James.

"Why do you want the Quill?" I demanded.

James started to comb through the backpack but it didn't look like he was looking very well. "Why? Why else would anyone want the Quill, Elsa. I want to change history's future! I want to change the world!"

"And it's my Quill and book that your autobot friends are trying to mess with." He transformed into the little sports car, trapping me in the back seat while James jumped in. He threw the backpack on the passenger seat and the car took off at speeds that a cop would have stopped him for.

I looked behind us and attempted to break the glass but it wouldn't break. I saw Bee and Prime in the distance before we turned from the motel parking lot onto the road. I needed Bee. He made me feel safe and brave.

" _Don't be so scared! It's just a bug!"_ Grandfather used to tell me whenever he tried to hand me a bug. Alisha was the brave one out of the two of us. I was always scared. Scared of the darkness and the unknown beyond. I was scared of uncharted territories and the vastness of the ocean. I've always been scared. I've always been cursed. I've always had bad luck since the day I was born because the world doesn't have time for people like me.

When Trion finally stopped James combed through my backpack a little bit better, strewing its contents around until he found the pen. He nearly threw it out but Trion's voice kept him from doing so.

"That is the Quill!" Trion announced.

"Now we just need that book," James turned to me. "You're going to be a good girl and you are going to tell us the location of the book."

I tried to get the words 'I don't know' out but I couldn't. I just stared at him with a blank look. It made James angry. "Tell me!" He growled.

'With Galvatron' I wanted to say but it was lost in my throat.

James lifted a fist. Trion's transformation was swift and quick. While I was trapped in his fist he picked up James by his arm. He kicked and squirmed like a worm. The pen had gotten flung in the back seat with me. I grabbed it and hid anywhere I could on my person.

"A gentleman doesn't hit a woman, boy," Trion's voice now held no warmth to it anymore. "I'm done with you." From such a great height it wasn't hard to tell Trion wanted to let the man-child die. Instead, he exercised control and dropped him at a less life threatening height. "All I need now is the Covenant of Primus." Covenant of Primus. The words were familiar but I had no time to think of where I heard it. As he walked the confusion of metals signaled his transformation and he left James on the side of a road that hardly anybody crossed.

"Where is the book?" Trion demanded with no warmth to his voice. "If you don't answer me I have ways of making you speak."

My breathing turned sharp and shallow. "I can't breath," I exhaled and covered my mouth with my hands.

Trion groaned with annoyance. "You humans are so fragile."

"I don't know," I finally said though it was muffled with my hands. "All I know is that Galvatron has it and he's possibly heading toward Russia. Okay now I really can't breath." I closed my eyes in focused on my breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.

"What's there?"

"Hall of Records!" I growled and went back to my breathing. Trion waited patiently until I could breath calmly. My heart still pounded uncontrollably. "Its location is possibly in Russia. We're trying to return the book and the Quill to the Hall."

Trion's laugh was mocking. "You talk of it as if you know it! Do you even know what the book is called? It's the Covenant of Primus! It isn't just a book of stories and history!"

"I know what it is! My sister can read it." I knew it then! I knew I had heard it in a dream and possibly from Grandpa and Prime. The words that escaped my mouth I couldn't take back. I hoped that I didn't put Alisha in danger.

"You humans?" He sounded appalled.

"Yeah. My sister can read it and I apparently can write it."

"No, you do not truly understand what you are writing or reading. It is only inscribed into your mind." After a short pause of no reaction he continued. "Your world has animals and every animal has instincts. The instincts are written into their mind and passed on from generation to generation. You humans are the same. Someone in your family knew it before and your instincts were awakened when the pen touched your hand."

"That was a bunch of bull crap science, though!" I retorted.

"Or so you thought," Trion laughed. "Instincts stay dormant until something awakens it."

We drove in silence. I didn't notice my face was wet with tears until we came to a stop and I was again trapped in his open palm. The Quill fell during the transformation and I tried to grab it but Trion grabbed it instead. I watched as the Quill reconstructed itself to fit his hand. It still looked amazing! It was golden and feathery and old and new.

"Then there's no reason to keep me," I tried to reason but he already took to the air. I wrapped my hands around his fingers so I could feel more stable. Trion must have felt my uneasy footing and he cupped his free hand over me so that I was encased in a ball. There were only small holes near his knuckles where light came through. My stomach felt queasy but I kept the bile in my throat.

He kept his hand steady so I didn't tumble around much until we landed. Russia was a cold place. It was colder than Galvatron's heart.


	6. Hall of Records

With some supervision Trion allowed me to buy some jackets and mittens. Snow was falling down like light rain. Trion transformed again from the sports car to his normal self once we were out of the city. I was too cold to scream for Crosshairs or the Hound.

"Why are you keeping me? You could have left me at Moscow." I shivered with the wind that bit my face. I covered my mouth and nose with my gloved hands.

"Bargaining. Why should I waste my energy getting in the middle of the war between Galvatron and Prime when I can sit back and watch the show and when Prime gets the book I can use his human pet as a hostage."

"Why am I suddenly a pet? I am not a pet!" I spat at him. This only made him laugh with amusement.

He walked on a little longer before setting me in the snow. "Time to find the Hall of Records." He mused.

"What do you want with the book?"

"It belonged to me before my brothers stole it. They believed I was misusing it but you can't misuse something you own." He started to look around. Over in the distance, further north, I thought I saw a strange space in the mountains. I started walking over to it.

"Where are you going?" He demanded.

"I'm hoping that space in the mountains is the Hall so that I can crawl in there and stop freezing!"

Trion peered in the distance and scooped me up and we headed over. It took only several minutes, where it would have taken me hours, and we arrived in front of a huge rocky doorway. The door was a sore disappointment. There were no drawings on the stone and nothing to tell its story. The Quill glowed a brighter golden color, it reacted to the door, and it opened for us.

"Thanks for opening the door, lovely," Crosshair's voice and cock of the gun sounded behind us. "But, We'll be taking our lovely girl there and her pen."

Trion turned and in front of the door the Hound dropped from the cliff of the mountain. Had I been on the ground I would have lost my footing. I smiled and stood. "Man I am glad to see you two!" Almost immediately Trion tightened his fingers into a fist around me.

"I don't think so." I wasn't sure what happened. The world tumbled around me and I shut my eyes and covered my head with my hands. Sometimes Trion jerked forward.

"Get the Quill!" I heard Crosshairs order Hound.

"No!" Trion screamed and growled. He didn't want to use his only hostage for a Quill. It was useless, though, and I knew that.

As soon as his gripped loosened I prayed to gods and guardians for wings to fly and I wiggled down past his fingers but before I could get far his grip tightened. I saw then that one of his hands turned into blaster type of gun.

He pointed it directly in my face. "If you shoot so do I!" Trion threatened. Hound had the Quill in his hands. All guns were pointed at him. There was snow above us that moved fast and steady.

"Um…guys!"

"Shush!" Trion growled.

The snow rumbled and moved.

"No, you three will really wanna hear-!"

"I said shut up!" Trion said again.

"Hand her over, Trion." Hound growled.

"Not until I have the Quill and the Covenant."

"Is that human life really all that important as two items?" Crosshairs laughed but I only watched the snow as it gained speed.

"It is for you!"

"Guys!" This time I was screaming and I didn't stop to catch my breath. I pointed, "Avalanche!" Now everyone listened. It occurred to me then that humans weren't the only one who ran from hundreds of pounds of snow.

"Get in the Hall of Records!" Crosshairs announced and took off running inside. Hound and Trion followed shortly thereafter. We barely made it inside when the snow covered the entrance. I panted even though I wasn't the one running. A shot and a scream from Trion later I dropped into Crosshair's palm. He held me as if I were a precious gem.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah…yeah I think so." I stood but I became dizzy so I sat again. It was a little bit warmer inside the Hall of Records. It looked more like an old library with writing all along the walls and books that belonged to the world of Cybertron.

"This is incredible!" I forced out the words. The Hound returned the Quill to me, which reconstructed itself to fit my tiny palm. Crosshairs walked me around while Hound stayed to guard Trion. We came across a ton of alien weapons, which we both helped ourselves to. I took anything that was small enough for me to carry and Crosshairs took only the finest of guns.

We walked back to the entrance and Hound tried to call Prime. "No signal," he concluded.

"That's okay," I looked up. "This thing goes higher. It's almost like there's spires."

"It's built into the mountain," Trion informed in a defeated tone.

"Crosshairs, see if you can get a better signal up there. I'll stay with Hound."

A smile played on his lips. When I asked he answered, "Our little girl is just growing up to be such a great leader." He faked tears and pretended to wipe his eyes. If I could I would have pushed him but I only laughed.

"It's true, you know." Hound finally said when Crosshairs wasn't around. "When we met you, you were nothing more than a cry baby and now you have the gall to order us around. Maybe things are turning around for you yet."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Hound." I climbed to sit on his shoulder. It seemed to be my favorite place. "I'm still…I'm still of no help." I coughed a bit.

"You look redder than a tomato," Hound observed.

I shivered in response.

"Humans can't live in the cold like you and I can," Trion told him. "She'll die if she doesn't get warmth from a fire." He stood and his action was met with hostility. He held up his hands. "There's a fireplace that we can set ablaze for her."

"It's okay, Hound. Just watch him carefully." I ordered as I looked at the Quill. My teeth were chattering by the time they got the fire going. Crosshairs eventually found us and was careful to sit next to me with his back against the fire instead of on me.

"Prime is too far away and the entrance is too covered with snow. The windows don't seem to open either and it looks like there's a blizzard on its way."

"We'll figure it out after the…the um…" Everything became dark and when I woke again I saw the Hound's face. "What?" I asked.

"You passed out," he informed.

"Did I?" The fire was out now. "How long?"

"A few hours," Crosshairs said.

"Get the fire going again, please? I'm cold…" I thought I closed my eyes for a second but when I woke again I saw Trion and Crosshairs battling for freedom. I closed my eyes and opened them again in time to see Prime with human soldiers. I allowed the darkness to surround me, to take me in its claws, and lull me to a deep sleep.

 _Fire was burning all around me in the Hall of Records. When I turned a corner, however, I was in the house I used to live in. Mother pushed Alisha into my arms. "Go! Your father is pinned under the fire!"_

 _"No!" I grabbed her hand. "Don't leave me again!"_

 _"I will be right behind you." She promised but I knew she wouldn't be. I stepped through the front door but firefighters weren't outside and Alisha had disappeared, replaced by the Covenant of Primus. Prime was fighting against Galvatron and he was losing the battle._

 _"Prime!" I screamed._

 _Prime was replaced with my grandfather. My eyes widened. "Do not use the book." He reached over and took it from me. I was lifted in the air and I fell and was caught by Trion. He laughed an evil laugh._

 _I started punching wildly for him to let go. I didn't hit anything. I only hit the air between us._

 _"Elsa stop!" I looked up at Trion. "Stop! It's just a dream. Elsa!"_

My own scream woke me. I was in a hospital in a military base. A nurse was holding me down. She was panting and sweating. How long had she been fighting me. "I'm sorry," I apologized while she took my temperature and ran some tests.

"It's okay. It happens to everyone. They say even Sam and Kade were plagued with nightmares."

"I wonder what that means," I tried to laugh.

"It means that whoever is unfortunate enough to get involved with the war is cursed."

"Are you telling the poor girl stories?" The voice sounded cocky but it was anything but boyish. It was a voice I'd only heard on TV interviews and Dr. Phil. Sam Witwicky stood by the door in the nicest suit imaginable. He waited till the nurse was finished and exited to approach me. He looked tired and middle aged. His nice hair was turning grey. "So you are the famous jinx girl."

"Jinx?" I furrowed my brow while he laughed.

"Yeah. Your story is pretty sad. Grandfather died of cancer. Both parents died two years after and while you got to be a government recognized adult at 16 your little sister stayed in foster care. You tried a few weeks ago to adopt her but you were denied and in that same day your roommate kicked you out of the apartment. You just got your GED, which is a plus, and you kind of got Bee for free and now you're on the run from Galvatron with a stupid pen. Am I missing anything?"

"Yeah, the part where my boyfriend broke up with me and then kidnapped me and then his car kidnapped me. Oh and Alisha's foster home was destroyed and now I'm never going to be her legal guardian, which is okay because this group is…well they're fun. I wouldn't trade my luck with anyone."

"Not for the world?" Sam asked inquisitively.

"Not for the entire universe."

"Good answer. That's what I like to hear. Bee is in good hands with you, Elsa Fisher."

"I'm glad you approve, Mr. Witwicky."

"Oh, no, just Sam." We shook hands. "Your handshake is firm…that's good. It shows confidence. Elsa, you are now entrusted with the fate of the world. It's a burden and it's a challenging one but I will be walking with you every step of the way."

Bee poked his head in making a depressed sound. Sam ran out. "Hey, hey, Bee! No! You'll destroy the building that way just stay out here." After another sad noise Sam answered, "She needs rest, Bee!"

Slowly I got up and changed from the patient's outfit to a sweater and pants that were laid out for me and I walked outside. Sam tried to get me back in bed but I wouldn't hear it. I kept on walking until I was in the middle of the circle of autobots with Sam.

The snow littered the ground in a thin sheet of white and grey and ice lay just underneath that but the lowest of soldiers shoveled snow out and did everything to get the ice from forming too big. Bee carefully handed me my backpack but the Quill was not inside.

"You should be resting," Prime said after Sam explained I hadn't been discharged.

"I'm fine, Prime. I need some blanks filled. Where's James?"

"Still in the US of A, awaiting a trial." Crosshairs said in an almost stiff, soldier like voice but I suspect it was more playful.

"And Trion?"

"Uh he kinda got away." Bee said.

"What about the Quill? It isn't in my backpack." The Hound and Crosshairs looked disappointed in themselves when I mentioned it.

"Trion has it…" They admitted finally with their heads bowed.

"And the Covenant?"

Sam answered that one, "Galvatron still has it. With the Hall sealed off with snow it's unlikely he'll head there."

"Sam, you knew Megatron, so you know Galvatron better than I do. What would he do next if he can't get his hands on the Quill and he has nobody following him?"

"He would build himself an army. He probably isn't even here anymore." Sam and Prime said almost in unison.

I sighed. "So Trion will be the one we'll worry about."

"Who's Trion?" Sam asked as he shoved his hands into his pocket.

"One of the original thirteen…" I answered.

"One who didn't do his job," Prime added. "Long ago before your earth was even formed Trion was in charge of the Covenant of Primus and it's Quill. When used together you can change the future but some things are only temporary and others you simply cannot change the outcome. Trion used it for his own purposes and so his brothers stole it and, along with the other Thirteen Artifacts, hid it in random worlds that were still new like this one."

Sam still had a puzzled look about him. "My grandfather, Joshua Fisher, found them in an expedition to the Congo. When he realized what the future might hold he entrusted me and my sister with it." Sam nodded so I continued. "We need to stop Trion from getting the book."

"Our original plan was to hide both the book and the Quill away in the Hall of Records and seal it but it seems that it will not work now." Prime sounded disappointed.

"What if we just break it?" Sam said.

"That's what I told him!"

"We may not have a choice." Prime sighed under his breath.

Sam looked at me. "Elsa, it's your call now. I'll lead the troops whenever you're ready."

"You might want to take these," Crosshairs handed me the alien gun I picked out and handed Sam one that closely resembled a sword.

"I'm ready whenever anybody else is!" I told Sam.

The wind kicked up the snow and scattered it. The falling snow had finally stopped leaving only the grey sky that tried to clear away. A muffled shot sound went off followed by my hands jerking upward and I realized it was my gun that went off. I blushed and looked down at the gun in my hands. "How did I do that?"


	7. Elsa's first battle

We sat around, waiting for any sign of Trion. It took a few days for someone to finally report a suspicious machine roaming around on the border of China and Russia. Bee took Sam and me. It was better for him to take care of two humans than for two autobots to take care of one.

"Have you ever been in a war?" Sam asked.

I shook my head.

"Well…prepare to be traumatized."

I swallowed my fear a little too audibly. There was too much at stake for me to suddenly back out now. As we went along the Russian landscape I could hear my grandfather recount the war of Vietnam.

 _"Wars are scary. Do you think you would be scared in a war? Well you should be, Elsa, because when it comes time for you to be out on the front lines and you watch everything you know disappear and everyone you love die you only have fear to rely on for a friend. Fear is your greatest enemy and your best friend."_

I never understood what that meant until now. Now that I'm in the middle of a warfront.

It wasn't long until we found Trion. He looked as if he was trying to find something out in the sky above but whatever it was he was forced to halt his search. Prime was the first one to give fire.

Bee set both Sam and me down.

"Okay, when he drops the Quill what will you do?"

"Run like Satan's chasing me and get it."

"What will you not do?"

"Slow down and hesitate."

Sam pat my shoulder. "Good pep talk." He ran out of hiding like a madman with a gun. It looked as if his aim was wild but it wasn't. He shot at Trion's arm until a glowing blue alien bullet hit his arm and he let go of the Quill. I ran forward as fast as I could despite the gun holding me down and putting on extra weight I didn't need.

Prime tackled Trion before he could pick it up and as soon as I touched it I could hear a strange hum. Sam yelled but his voice was lost under the explosion. It flung me forward but I didn't let go of the Quill. I couldn't let go of it. I hesitated and when you hesitate you die.

 _When I opened my eyes I was surrounded by beings not unlike the transformers I befriended. They stood around me, eyeing me, and there were twelve in all._

 _"Thirteen…" I whispered under my breath._

 _"So you know of us." The voice belonged to a woman's but their mouths did not move. They were made of stone! "Then explaining will be much easier."_

 _"Elsa Fisher…" This voice sounded a little like Trion's but much younger._

 _"How do you know me?"_

 _"We know everybody. Your name was scribbled in the Covenant of Primus many times."_

 _"Can you tell me or do you even know how to destroy the Quill or the book?"_

 _"Sadly, no," one of the voices sounded like a boy's. "You cannot destroy the Quill but you can destroy the book just like any other. If you do, however, Galvatron will just learn to create a new one."_

 _"Tell me how…"_

I opened my eyes and my vision was filled with Sam. He was yelling but for what? I couldn't hear him at first with all of the shooting around us. I realized, then, he was telling me to run but soon he left me. I was picked up and came face to face with the ugliest being anyone had created.

"Where is it?" Galvatron growled in my face.

"Haven't you ever heard of a breath mint?" I asked sarcastically. He didn't like that too much. He squeezed my body. The pressure made me scream, "Okay, okay, okay! In my back pocket. Put me down and I'll get it."

He set me in his hand and I patted my pockets but it wasn't there. I frowned. That's right! I never did actually get it to my pocket and the idiot had the book with him. Something like a dream flashed in my head. Looking around I found Sam, he looked scared and older. Did he have the Quill?

"Shoot the book!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Everything went into slow motion. As soon as I yelled Galvatron threw me but I watched the book crumble under the shot of a gun. I still do not know who fired it, maybe Sam. I expected the ground to hit me hard and break my bones in a slow, painful death but what I hit instead was metal on flesh and bone. I screamed out in pain as a rib broke near the spine and my arm flared in a fiery pain. It was Bee's hand that saved and injured me. I smiled up at him.

"You're super, Bee. You're…You're…." I closed my eyes and let the darkness overcome me.


	8. Beginning of Luck

_"Well done, Elsa Fisher." The stone transformers spoke in unison. "You have truly outdone your grandfather."_ It was the start and the end of the dream.

When I woke up I was back in the military camp with both Russian and US soldiers and nurses and doctors. One of the doctors told me in broken English that my rib was, indeed, broken and I was lucky it wasn't my spine and the pain in my arm was from a hairline stress fracture that I was forced into a brace for.

Sam came in when the nurses were done. "You look like shit." He said and sat next to the bed.

"I feel like it too. How long was I out of it?"

"Surprisingly you woke up a few hours later but you couldn't come out of a dream so they induced a coma and now it's a week later. You seem to do well with the pain."

"Not really," I groaned. "Don't I get any morphine?"

Sam laughed. "No. You get Aspirin." He helped me get it down. I gagged on the water.

"When can I go home?"

"You just had a life or death experience and you're worried about home?"

I nodded. Was it really all that crazy? I wanted just one thing. "I want to go back with Bee and the others."

"Well, they're already in the US. They're negotiating the defense and look outs." He helped me sit up slowly without straining my ribcage too much. We spoke of a lot of things including when I could go home. It would be months before I could go home again so I learned a little bit of Russian, mostly how to cuss and curse and everything in between. My back was kept straight the entire time, which eventually became painful. Alisha and I spoke often, especially on the nights she ran away. She told me how Bee often caught her and how he took her back to her foster home.

When I finally flew back I was greeted by Crosshairs rather than Bee, which he explained that Bee had caught Alisha sneaking off again. Eventually we caught up with the other autobots in the middle of the desert in front of a huge house with a huge garage.

"You're staying here, right?" I asked the four autobots when they gathered around to see my expression.

"We will be around for as long as you need us, Elsa." Prime answered. "But not a moment more."

"So, the house was a gift?" I walked up the steps.

"Yeah, a thanks from your government. They're really generous toward heroes." The Hound answered.

I smiled. "I love it. It's beautiful out here."

"I think so too," they all agreed.

As the months pass I prepared another case to be Alisha's legal guardian. The governor convinced me to try again. This time, as the judge read the file, I was less intimidated and less fearful.

The judge put down her reading glasses and eyed me up and down. "You know you'll put her in danger, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am. But I trust the autobots with Alisha's life more than anyone who lives. They'll protect her before me."

"And your house is all paid off," she mused aloud. "We will do a one year trial in which you will have random inspections, Elsa Fisher. I will mail you a list of things that you need to have done in that year or any improvements that I need to see. A failure of completing the tasks will result in a permanent ruling."

I smiled. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I would get my little sister back and I could be the one to protect her.

In that same day I took her home with Bee. Everyone, even Sam, greeted us when we got there. "Are they staying with us?" Alisha asked. When I nodded she asked why.

"They're family, Alisha." We got out of Bee and walked up the steps to Sam. "The autobots are our family." I met Prime's eyes. They held a kind of proud, fatherly presence in them. I hadn't seen eyes like that since dad died.

As the months went by I still couldn't shake off that dream I had when I momentarily passed out from that explosion. I kept trying to will it back but it wouldn't come.

Alisha kept claiming that she had a guardian angel and was appalled that I called it an imaginary friend. She wouldn't tell me what it was.

One night when I fell asleep I had the dream again.

 _"You have done well," the womanly voice declared. "You will be used well."_

 _"Used for what?" I asked but I got no answer to the question. They went on as if I hadn't asked._

 _"The time will come when you will need to call upon us for help. When that happens remember this name…"_

I didn't remember the name when I woke up but I knew that I would remember when I needed to know the name.


	9. Lucky Family

_Everything around me burned in a fire but the fire didn't burn. I wasn't in my body, I watched as a spectator and I watched my body run from a menacing shadow. It swung a shadowy sword at my body but a transformer that greatly resembled a female blocked the attack. The transformer looked at me, not at my body but where I was observing, and screamed, "Get the Matrix out of here!"_

 _In my hands suddenly was a metallic, almost spiraling-looking object with a bright blue light in the middle. It looked beautiful! I got lost at the sight._

I woke with a groan. My once broken rib, which was still sore when I fell on it, was inflamed. The doctors kept trying to convince me it was all in my mind and maybe they were right. Slowly I sat up and waited until the pain receded into its dormant state. The door slammed and Alisha squealed with pleasure. Her feet made hollow sounds in the stairs and she flew into the room like Hermes might if he were real.

Alisha spoke too fast and at too high of a pitch for me to understand. I lifted a hand to stop her. "First of all too fast and too early. I need my coffee. Second, you're talking at a pitch only a dog can hear! Slow, breathe, and…" I put my hand down when she inhaled and exhaled slowly.

"Tyler asked me to the dance and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who's Tyler and why haven't I met him?"

Alisha rolled her eyes. "Sis! Stop and listen! Okay so Tyler asked me to the dance this Saturday so can I go?"

"Can I ask my questions now?"

"Only after you answer mine."

"No. Now who's Tyler?"

Alisha made a disgusted sound. "Why not?" She groaned.

"I don't know Tyler and I know nothing of this dance. Aren't you in, like, 6th grade?"

"8th. I was in 6th grade when I first ran away from that foster home, remember?"

"And this Saturday is your birthday. It's only the second birthday we have together."

Alisha exhaled through her lips making an exasperated horse sound. I sighed and rubbed my head and remembered what it was like for me when our parents didn't allow me to go to things like dances. "Rules, I have to meet him and Bee has to help approve. If Bee doesn't like him then I don't either. After that he can supervise…" I thought carefully at the sentence. "Rewrite, after that someone more mature than Bee can supervise. Deal?"

She grinned from ear to ear and tackled me. My rib became inflamed again and I made a sharp inhale through my teeth. Alisha pulled away from me quickly and we waited to hug until the pain subsided.

While I made coffee Alisha got ready for the day. The "autumn" we often got in September was still hot and a little humid this year. It kept people from coming out and enjoying the cooler air. Everything was still green in autumn there was no such thing as fall here. The only change was that the sun disappeared earlier and earlier each night and rose later and later.

Alisha, who was now nearly thirteen, was ready to go. "Oh and I have to stay after late for band," she informed as I poured the milk into my coffee. "And I have a drama meeting tomorrow."

I groaned and rubbed my head. "You have too many activities."

"That's because I don't have as many responsibilities as you did." Her grin was playful but I wanted to tell her how wrong she was. When I was her age I chose not to partake in after school activities. Why would I when I could come home, finish my homework and chores, and spend the night staring up at the sky or playing piano?

I kissed her head, informed her that I had to stay late at work and that I'd see her in the morning, and then watched as Bee drove her to school. The house grew quiet and peaceful. I walked to the beautiful, black, grand piano and checked each note to make sure the strings hadn't gone bad. I set the coffee cup on top of it and played a soft and slow song.

When I brought it out of storage Alisha was excited to hear me play again. I was rusty from years and years of only playing in piano shops. As the summer went on I practiced and honed my skills. Now my playing was smoother and I was able to buy new sheet music and slowly practice the new songs. I played every morning because the sound woke me up and made me remember that our luck and our future was changing. Whenever I played or listened I could swear I heard the piano speak to me in a way nobody has spoken to me before. It was an intimate whisper and a cry of anger and pain and the happiness of a child. I loved the sounds the piano made.

After an hour of playing I started getting ready for my day. First thing after I changed was clean the kitchen and then start the laundry. While that was going I swept and vacuumed the house and maybe watch a little bit of TV but I needed to keep moving to keep myself from being bored.

In the afternoon after I ate lunch I got ready for work and walked outside where Bee waited. The other autobots came and went whenever they pleased but Bee always stayed to protect us.

I got in the drivers seat and pulled my hair back to the start of my hairline on my neck and held it back with a hair tie. While we drove the long way to the city I told Bee of the conversation between Alisha and me. Bee made a sighing sound.

"I know. My little girl is growing up!" I faked a sniffle and this made Bee laugh. "So I'm counting on you to approve or disapprove!"

He stopped in front of the small coffee shop in between a grocery store and a pet store. I got out and waved as I walked in and bump right into Liam. Liam was tall with white European skin that seemed lighter with his black hair that grew out so much he had to tie it back. Unlike most guys with this style hair it made Liam's face look much older than he was. His laugh was warm.

"You okay?" His accent was lost under the American accent he adopted after only two years!

"Y-yeah," I stammered. Running behind the counter I tried to hide my blush. How clumsy could someone be? Now that my complete focus wasn't on getting my sister back I was able to enjoy things like the tall, handsome adults about my age. Sometimes, however, I doubted that he thought of our relationship as nothing more than employee and customer. It frustrated me.

My coworkers snickered when I glared and told them to shut up and I got to work. I tried to bury myself in the sea of espresso shots and flavorings but to no avail. Liam leaned across the counter and started talking. We talked of small, mundane things like the change in weather, new movies that were coming out, books we've read. It wasn't long until I handed him his drink and he took off out the door. I watched him for longer than I should have.

One of the barista's elbowed my ribcage. I grimaced in pain and grunted at him before flitting behind the wall so nobody would see me in pain. He followed me. "Why don't you ask him out already? Some guys love that."

"I have too much to do. I don't have time to date." I sat on the stepping stool. "Geeze, try aiming at that spot again."

He rolled his eyes. "Not my fault you were dumb enough to climb a tree."

I opened my mouth but decided it was better to not correct him. I never told a soul about Bee or the other transformers and they never really paid much attention to whether Bee was still out in the parking lot or if I was even getting into the same care. Everyone else thought it was better this way. Alisha said I needed better coworkers but it was better if they didn't notice otherwise my house may be flooded with strangers and I'll become a tourist attraction.

"Whatever," I growled finally. We started to get to work again. Alisha's friends dropped her off an hour before closing so I stood by the table she was sitting at and talked about her day. By this time almost everyone was clocked out for the day and almost everyone left for the evening. As soon as midnight hit Alisha helped lock up for the night and we walked to Bee who was parked in the same spot I left him.

As soon as we were driving home Alisha asked, "What day did you want to meet him?"

"Friday. I have the day off. We can all go out for a nice dinner or something."

She rolled her eyes at me. I didn't care. "How's Liam?" There was an evil grin to her face.

I blushed. "How did you know about him?"

"You kept your journal open on your computer."

"Who's this guy?" Bee finally interjected.

I huffed and looked out the window. I didn't want to tell Bee just in case what Crosshairs told me about him was true. That Bee was over protective. That Bee wouldn't like him.

Alisha giggled and we stopped at the house. We got out. "Go to bed!" I yelled but this only made her laugh louder.

Friday's morning routine was the same. Get up, have coffee, talk to Alisha before she ran out the door, make breakfast, play the piano, clean the house, but today I didn't have work so I got to wait for Alisha to get home for lunch. Every Friday she was let out early. She hardly greeted me when she walked inside. She just walked straight up to her room and shut the door, speaking quietly on the phone. I didn't bother her with it much instead I walked outside and put my hands on my hips.

"It's quiet. Where's Crosshairs, Bee?"

Bee got down as close to my level as he could and shrugged.

The wind kicked up the dust in a quick motion. "Nothing about Galvatron?"

He shook his head.

No, of course not. That would be too easy on his part to suddenly appear after a year. Maybe he really was done being a decepticon. "And nothing from Prime?"

Bee answered with a worried sound. I stood on the tips of my toes and patted his head to try and calm him. Truth was that I was worried too. We hadn't heard from Prime in half a year.

The noise of a car came from the start of a long driveway. Bee walked in the oversized garage and sat there while I watched the car drive up. The boy that stepped out wasn't like anyone I expected. He had almond eyes and spoke to the driver in a language that sounded harsh on the throat and some words sounded very angry. He wasn't pale like I expected, he was dark skinned and his eyes were so dark I almost mistook it as black. When he closed the door and looked at me he looked too kind and innocent for words. Who could ever hate a boy like this?

I didn't hear him the first two times he greeted me. I snapped myself from my trance and shook my head, half expecting my brain to rattle. He repeated himself in a perfect American accent, "It's very nice to meet you, Miss…uh…"

"Call me Elsa. You are?"

"Tyler." He looked nervous.

Alisha ran outside. "I told you that you didn't need to come until tonight."

Tyler shrugged. "I thought your sister needed to get to know me a lot better than a few hours."

I couldn't hide my smirk. "Smart kid," I muttered just loud enough to earn a dirty look from Alisha. "Come inside for a while, Tyler, while I make some tea." Alisha looked nervous that Tyler had come way earlier than expected. She stomped into the kitchen after showing Tyler the family room.

"Don't do anything embarrassing!" She pleaded.

"Now why would I do something as evil as that?"

Alisha huffed, "Because you are evil!"

I rolled my eyes. The water took several minutes to boil and as it turns out Tyler wasn't a fan of tea. I made the tea for myself and sipped it while we chatted a bit about mundane things like school, their teachers, their personal lives, and his family. After James I didn't trust people who seemed innocent. I guess I didn't trust most people in general.


	10. What's in a name

The night went well for the most part. We went out for an inexpensive dinner and we talked and laughed. The kid was a well-rounded kid. I had to give him credit for making me laugh so hard I spit soda on the waiter. Our waiter lost some kind of bet that night too from what I could overhear but I never got to hear what kind of a bet it was.

We took Tyler home and after the door closed I asked Bee, "What did you think?"

"I approve," he said as he drove down the road.

"So I can go out to the dance then?"

"Yes but you owe me one birthday," I grinned and ruffled her hair. Alisha slapped away my hand.

Our morning routine, I realized on Saturday, never really changed. The only thing that changed was I had to go to the doctor about my once broken rib because after so long it should have stopped hurting. I kissed Alisha's forehead and ordered Crosshairs to keep an eye on her while Bee took me into the city.

I didn't have to wait long for my doctor, mainly because he was stationed on a military training base and almost nobody gets hurt while training. He took X-rays of my rib and felt around a bit.

"It healed correctly," he admitted as he looked at the X-rays and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You probably just bruised it at some point."

"For the past six months?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, it could happen. Just wait it out and be extremely…um…careful…" The doctor paused and thought about it. I merely laughed. Me? Careful? It was like some sort of sick joke.

The doctor gave me some over-the-counter pain medicine and sent me home. The drive seemed noisier than usual. The "snowbirds" must have snuck in while I wasn't looking. A few out of state license plates later I concluded that they were back and that driving would be more of a hassle than it was before.

As traffic thinned out the farther away from the city we got I noticed a plume of smoke clouds rising steadily into the air. It got closer and closer and the closer we got I realized the possibility of my home burning. I held my breath.

The gorgeous house I lived in with Alisha for a year burned like a fire in a fireplace. It was all too contained for this to be an accident and for it to have burned so quickly.

Before Bee stopped I lunged out and started looking for Crosshairs and Alisha. They were nowhere to be found. "Bee, look in the garage for Crosshairs. I'll look inside for Alisha!" After he nodded and walked to the garage I ran inside the burning building keeping my head low and smothering myself in my shirt. "Alisha!" A supportive beam came down in front of the door and nearly crushed me. That blew my plan for going out through the front door. I slowly made my way through the burning building, yelling out for Alisha. The last room I came to was my room. I couldn't find her anywhere. My chest ached and I couldn't breathe. By now I was on my hands and knees and I gagged on the smoke. The house made an ominous creak. It was about to collapse.

I stood and tried to open the window. It only opened a crack. I fell through the floor and landed on my back in the living room. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't stand. I had no energy or strength. The adrenaline that filled me only minutes before faded away. I closed my eyes and allowed myself one last thought. _Is this how I am to die?_

 _"Remember this name…"_

 _I recognized the voice! It was one of the Thirteen. The darkness cleared away to show me only eleven clay statues. What was becoming of them?_

 _"Remember this name…"_

 _I strained to hear the voice. "What name?"_

 _"Remember the name of the Primes…"_

 _I still couldn't hear the name. "What name?" I asked again._

 _She continued to speak as if I hadn't asked her a question. "You need to know this name in your time of need. Now wake up."_

I opened my eyes and sucked in a sharp breath. Something was in my throat. Air was being sucked out and forced back in. My chest raised and lowered slowly. As I became more aware of my surroundings I realized I was in a hospital room.

A doctor stood over me and tried speaking but his voice sounded very far away. All I kept hearing was the woman's voice in my dream. It was a dream I've had many times before. I tried to force the name in my head but every time it was lost in a sea of confusion. The doctor took out the tube that breathed for me, it made me gag, and I sucked in a sharp breath. After he left Alisha came running into the room dropping peas from the cafeteria behind her.

"Oh thank god!" She set the tray down and hugged me tightly. "You idiot!" She pushed me away. I nearly toppled out of the bed. "Why the hell would you run into a burning building?"

"I thought you were in there!" I tried yelling but my mouth felt dry.

"You're a bigger idiot than I thought! Crosshairs took me to the mall so I could get a few things with some friends." She rubbed her temples as if she had a headache. "I was so worried! Bee was so worried! Optimus…"

"He's back?" I interrupted her then proceeded to rip the IVs out of my arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" Alisha pushed me onto the bed.

"I need to see him."

"No! You need to stay here. You've been unconscious for days you can't go out yet."

I had never seen Alisha so worried. Her eyes glistened with the coming of tears and her face was red with anger but it morphed into worry. I pulled her to me and hugged her tightly. She let out her tears. Tears of worry and of sadness and of anger. She was right about one thing, I was an idiot for thinking Crosshairs wasn't around to protect her. However, I wasn't that much of an idiot for running into a burning building. Mom did it for dad so it would only be natural that I did it for Alisha.

 _"Instincts are dormant until something awakens it,"_ Trion's voice and face flashed into my mind. Was this instinct?

We finally pulled away from the hug. "I didn't go to the dance," she said when I asked about it. "You were in the hospital and I couldn't leave you. You wouldn't leave me if I were here."

"I would if I could kill the idiot that hurt you."

Alisha rolled her eyes. "Tyler came here and we kind of had a date here. He brought me Chinese food from this restaurant downtown and he told me of his family. His grandma died recently from some disease." As she spoke I realized that her once dreaded hair actually had natural curls to it like grandma. Her skin tanned if she was in the sun for a long while. "What is it?"

I blinked away the thoughts. "You just look…so much like mom." I reached out and softly stroked her hair. It curled around my finger and refused to straighten even if I pulled it.

"I miss her," she whispered.

"I miss her too."

Soon nurses came in and lectured me about going into burning buildings. I promised never to do it again but Alisha and I knew it was an empty promise. When Alisha fell asleep I took the metal cane of IV bags and walked outside. All of the autobots were waiting outside in their full forms. Bee jerked me from the ground and made worried noises.

"I'm fine, Bee." I laughed but nobody else seemed to be laughing with me. In fact the only other one looking at me was Bee. "I'm sorry for worrying you, guys. I just thought…." There was a long awkward pause. How could I explain that I had no choice? I thought Alisha was inside. I was stupid enough to allow myself to think Crosshairs would ever let anything happen to her.

"There's no need to explain yourself," Prime finally said. "We understand."

"Nobody acts like they understand."

"Oh I understand," Crosshairs pointed his finger at me, knocking me down as he poked me. "I understand you thought I would actually leave Alisha after you told me not to!"

"I was acting on emotion," I tried to explain but he wouldn't hear it.

"We've known each other for a year and-"

"Enough!" Prime pushed back Crosshairs.

Hound put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something to him that I couldn't hear.

Prime continued, "As soon as you are better we have to leave."

"Why?"

"That fire wasn't an accident."

"Why would anyone want to burn down our home, Prime?" When I said 'our' I could clearly see Crosshairs and Hound didn't think of it as their home. It felt like a knife stabbed my back and it was digging deeper in my soul.

"I don't know," he sounded disappointed.

"Is it possible Galvatron did this?" Hound finally chimed in.

Prime nodded.

"Where has that S.O.B been hiding anyway?" Bee asked, his body language was exasperated.

"I'm still not sure. I'll explain everything later. Right now Elsa should get rest."

Bee lowered his palm but I didn't get off. "Prime, I keep having dreams and I think they're about the original Thirteen. They keep telling me a name but I don't know what it is. Do you think Trion had dreams like mine?"

"I do not know, Elsa."

"They may mean nothing," Hound said. "Just go get some sleep."

I looked at Crosshairs who had his back turned to me. I opened my mouth to apologize again but decided better not to and walked inside.


	11. Give me answers

I was finally discharged the morning after. I still felt bad about what I did to Crosshairs. Outside the autobots waited in vehicle form. I told Alisha, "Go with Bee. Bee, take Alisha to her friends house."

"Who are you going with then?" Alisha didn't have her backpack, I realized. It was probably lost in the fire.

"Crosshairs," I told her. We hugged and got in our respective vehicles. After a long drive of silence I called the school to explain Alisha's absence and missing homework. Nobody asked a lot of questions, they just wanted to get off the phone as fast as possible. I hung up the phone and sighed as I looked out the window. We still didn't speak for a long while. Finally I said, "I'm sorry for not trusting you had Alisha, Crosshairs. I acted on impulse." There was nothing but silence. "I should have known you'd have Alisha. I don't know what else to do to show you I'm sorry…"

Finally Crosshairs answered, "Is that why you didn't let Alisha come with me?"

"I needed to apologize. You were so upset last night."

After a long while he laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" I huffed.

"You! You think I'd be mad for this long? I get it. I knew a guy who did the same thing and would probably still do it."

"He ran into a burning building?"

"No! He put himself in danger to save his daughter even though we would have protected her! It makes things ten times harder but maybe that's why…." He never finished his sentence.

"Do you know where Trion is?" I just wanted to change the subject. "I need to speak with him."

We stopped at a military base I'd never seen before. Here Crosshairs felt comfortable enough to stretch out and walk around in his non-car form. It didn't take very long to find Trion. The only building big enough to hold him stood off away from the rest of the buildings. Four boxes surrounded him as if trapping him in a box. It was made of some advanced technology that no human could have built on our own.

Trion sat awaiting a long overdue sentence and trial. He sat with his back toward the door and he turned as soon as the soldiers slid the door halfway shut. He huffed.

"Surprised they didn't kill you," I started in a quiet half whisper that echoed through the hanger.

"I've lived too long to know that death wasn't worth the Covenant or the Quill." He sounded very sad and very defeated.

"I have questions I was hoping you could answer." I paused waiting for an answer, expecting him to refuse but he never said a word. I let the silence grow larger than it needed to. "I keep having dreams. In these dreams I'm surrounded by…well, more recently it's been eleven members of the Thirteen. Your brothers, I assume. They tell me things that I don't remember when I wake up."

Trion stroked his long beard. It was hard to tell if he was simply playing with it or if he was thinking. "I hope you have an idea of what kind of things they say. I can't be of much help to you if you don't tell me."

"Right. The first time I blacked out after an explosion when I took the Quill from you. I suddenly remembered when I looked at Sam and told him to destroy the book. Now, they keep telling me a name that I need to call on when I need help."

"You said before that there were only eleven members?" After I nodded he continued. "Do you know which ones are there?"

I shook my head. "No. They all look the same to me. The only other one I know isn't with them is you, Trion."

"Hmm…I hope it isn't whom I think…" was all he muttered under his breath. Whoever it was made Trion uneasy.

"And I have another problem. I can't think of why someone would burn down my house or who would do such a thing. The only one I can think of that I've really upset was maybe Galvatron."

"Did you have a look inside? What did it look like?"

I gave him a dumb look, "Um…smokey."

He sighed and muttered something in a language I didn't understand. "Close your eyes." He commanded. "Now, go back to when you went inside. What do you see?"

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine it. "Smoke and sunlight," I answer.

"No, no, no. Okay what do you smell."

"Smoke. Burning wood. A nasty fabric smell."

"Good, good. What do you feel?"

"Heat from the fire."

"Now look around you. Look through the smoke. What does that look like?"

"I see…" I could see everything clearly under my eyelids. "Everything is torn up? The couch is flipped on top of the TV. There's a huge hole in the wall…how did I not notice before?"

"You humans get in such a hurry you don't know what you see. Keep going."

"I'm heading up the stairs and everything seems normal minus the fire." I opened my eyes and looked up at him.

"They didn't set your house on fire because they hate you, Child," Trion said. "They set your house on fire to draw something out. Whatever it was they never found it."

"What would I have?"

"I have no more answers for you."

I went in with questions and walked out with more questions and no answers. In my gut I could feel what I felt a year before; I felt adventure, excitement, and danger. I also felt something watching me something far greater than humans or even transformers.

"Did you get all your questions answered?" Crosshairs was waiting for me at the other side of the base.

"No. I have more questions than answers. I need to go back home and have a look around. Maybe there's something there that'll give me answers."


	12. Alisha

The fire had destroyed everything. There were remnants of old couches and Crosshairs would find older photos that had been kept in the basement. Half of grandfather's face was burnt off in one picture. I never recognized that he was frowning on the side of his face that hadn't been burned. Something had been on his mind that day, I remembered.

"There's nothin' here but ash." Crosshairs complained as he picked up a leather bound notebook and carefully tried to flip through it. One of the pages crumbled under his touch and he gave it to me. It was grandfathers. I hadn't been able to look through it before the fire like I wanted to.

I sighed softly and sat in the middle of everything. "What do I have? Who could have done this?" Crosshairs looked around a little farther than I would have guessed to look. A sound of a car made us both jump but the car noise soon turned into mechanical feet. Galvatron walked up from the driveway nonchalantly. Without missing a beat Crosshairs stood in front of me with guns raised and he half hid me behind his feet.

"What do you want?" Crosshairs and I yelled in almost perfect unison.

Galvatron held up his hands in almost a defeated fashion. "Put down your gun," he ordered Crosshairs. "I'm not here to harm the girl, only talk to her."

"What do you want?" I yelled again and moved in front of Galvatron's foot.

Galvatron kneeled but Crosshairs kept his guns trained on him. Squished in his fingers was paper only fit for human hand. I ripped it from him and looked down at it. I didn't need to read it to know the soft cursive handwriting of Alisha. It read:

 _They're looking for something. Something they think we possess. Elsa, don't give it to them if you really have it! Remember your dreams. Remember the name that you need to call on when danger comes._

 _I love you, Sis._

 _-Alisha_

"Give her back!" I screamed at Galvatron. "She has nothing to do with this war!"

Galvatron had a satisfied smirk on his face as I screamed. "You give me the Forge of Solus Prime and I'll give back your sister." He walked away calmly.

I screamed and ran after him but Crosshairs grabbed me before I could get very far. He tried to calm me down but I kept screaming. I was deaf to my own voice. I'm not sure what I said but I regretted saying it later. I pounded on his hand as he walked to the rendezvous point. Eventually my throat became sore and my voice was hoarse. I wheezed as if I ran forever. The only thing I heard was the quietness of the desert and the angry beating of my heart.

Suddenly I became aware of my surroundings. Everyone surrounded us as Crosshairs explained. I looked down at the ripped sheet of paper and attempted to will the two pieces together. My hands shook so it didn't fit correctly.

Bumblebee made worried noises, sad noises that could make a cold heart cry or laugh. I wanted to tell him I was fine but I wasn't fine. I couldn't think of where this "Forge of Solus" would be. What does it even look like? How do I find it? Where do I start looking? Was Galvatron the one who set the fire?

My mind stopped working. I don't remember Prime giving orders and I don't remember Bee driving me to a hotel parking lot and I don't remember it getting dark. I remember staring up at the heavens and tracing each constellation with my eyes before falling asleep on his hood.

 _"You are in distress," the woman's voice said._

 _There were ten. "Why are you disappearing?"_

 _"Everyone else has become worried but I will always visit."_

 _"When did the dream start? I don't remember when it started."_

 _"It just did. Now tell me what is ailing you."_

 _I sucked in a breath. "What is the Forge of Solus Prime?"_

 _After a minute of silence she finally answered, "Why are you looking for such an artifact?"_

 _If I told them the truth would they tell me where it is? "I heard the name from Galvatron."_

 _Before I finished one of them said frantically, "She needs it to save her sister Alisha."_

 _Another one added, "She'll give it to Galvatron! It will be the end of Optimus Prime."_

 _"I want to know why he wants it!" I tried to control the subject but they wouldn't listen. I turned in the direction where the woman's voice came from and my voice was ripped from my throat, "Please, Solus Prime, believe me!"_

 _The name shut everyone up. Where did I hear that name? I'd never said it before so I must have heard it!_

I woke up with a stiff back. The sun hadn't come up yet but my phone told me it was 6 a.m. I hit the hood of the car. "Hey, that does hurt, you know!" Bee complained.

"Sorry, Bee, I just…I'm just frustrated." I ran my hand through my hair. I needed to talk to Trion one more time. "Bee, can you take me to see Trion?"

Bee didn't like the idea but he took me to Trion anyway and even stayed near the door of the hangar, keeping watch over mine and Trion's meeting.

"You're back," Trion seemed surprised more by the meeting than by Bee standing at the door.

"Unfortunately…well…I mean I'm here for different questions- I mean answers!" My head was spinning. It went back and forth between present and past and even dabbled in future. I rubbed the back of my neck where the spine meets the skull, as if something was there to block my thinking.

"What's on your mind, human child?" Trion's words were kind. "Human child" wasn't an insult but an observation that I was a child, even by human terms, who dabbled in the affairs of adults that weren't of this world.

I explained to him everything that happened. I didn't realize just how much of the journey was retained. After a few minutes of explanation I finally asked, "Who is Solus Prime?"

Trion made a sound like a sigh but it didn't sound like a sigh. "I haven't heard that name in…quite a long time. Where did you hear it?"

"In my dreams…and Galvatron wants something called the Forge of Solus Prime. What is that?"

Without hesitation he told me, "Solus Prime was one of my brothers. She was in charge of making our weapons and with her Forge she made the Quill and Covenant of Primus. Her Forge is the only thing that is able to create such masterpieces," he sounded in awe but he also sounded sad. "When our brother, The Fallen, turned against us she was the first to die so the rest of us had to give our lives to protect the Matrix."

"Then how are you walking now? How are you living?"

"The human, James, helped bring me back. I can only suspect he got his hands on technology from Cybertron."

"How is that even possible?" Bee finally chimed in from the door.

"Maybe it fell from the sky. Maybe he uncovered it somehow. Maybe Primus gave it to him."

We stared at him. "Who's Primus?" I didn't expect to echo Bee's words and it nearly startled us both. Trion didn't seem surprised that Bee didn't know.

"That is a different story for a different day. It won't help you save your sister. I think I may remember where the Forge of Solus Prime is buried. If you can convince them to let me out…"

That wasn't a problem, it was harder to convince Prime than it was to convince the human soldiers but once I had him convinced the Forge may be somewhat useful he accompanied Alpha Trion. Everyone had their eyes on him when he first stepped out and they became even more wary when I voluntarily stepped into his sports car version.

The inside reminded me of last year when he kidnapped me and dragged me to Russia. My hands skimmed over the dials of the radio and of the steering wheel. For some reason I didn't feel as nervous as I thought I would, I felt almost at peace.

Everyone escorted Trion and the autobots on a plane that would usually hold cargo. I didn't even hear Trion tell them where the Forge was at!

 _"Wow! Were you scared?"_ Alisha had asked that when I told her the whole thing. I lied to her and said I wasn't at all scared. _"That's amazing! You're so lucky! I wish I could have gone with you."_

"Where is it?" I finally snapped out of my own world.

"In Europe. You found the Tomb of the Primes in Egypt, well this isn't too far. It's in a place you humans call a Greece."


	13. The Forge of Solus Prime

Greece was beautiful in the area outside of the towns. Trion insisted that the Forge was set on a stone but nobody could move it. It sounded like the tale of Thor's Hammer or King Arthur and Excalibur. "All of your human myths have to come from somewhere, don't they?" He countered when I told him neither of these men existed. "Thor was indeed a very strong human but he only got that strength from finding the Forge of Solus Prime." Finally Trion stopped in a wide meadow.

"Why did we stop?" Hound demanded.

Trion let me down. "Only a few of us can go. Solus Prime, if she was smart, has this place under guard. Too many at once and we'll likely die as a group. The human is smaller-"

"No," Bee yelled from the back of the group. He had been quiet in anger the entirety of the trip. "You aren't going anywhere with Elsa."

"I never suggested such a thing. I was going to suggest she go alone. Solus Prime meant for this to only be for human discovery, I think."

Go alone? I looked at the mist and meadow. The mist covered most of the meadow so I couldn't see beyond it. After a minute of staring Trion gently pushed me forward with his thumb, insisting that I go. Once my legs started walking I couldn't stop no matter how much I willed them to stop. When I finally stopped and looked back from where I came the mist covered the autobots and Trion so that they were nothing more than silhouettes and the farther I moved the less I could see their figures.

The mist wrapped me in chilly arms. I rubbed my arms in hopes to get rid of the goosebumps that were forming. It was so quiet that the only thing I could hear was the beating of my own heart. Where was I even going? It felt like I was going straight but something told me I was only moving in circles. I've passed that blueberry bush five times! Were blueberries even native in Greece? I kneeled next to it and started looking at the leaves closer. The leaves and berries weren't normal like blueberry bushes should be, they were hard and cold. A light came up from the middle of the bush when I touched one of the fruits. The light made me jump backward onto my back. In front of me was a hologram of a transformer very much like Prime but with more of a womanly figure. I scrambled to stand.

"Go back from where you came, human child. Go back and never return here. If you should stay you will wander the roads forever. Only those my Forge chooses shall find it." It disappeared.

"Was that Solus Prime?" I asked nobody in particular. Where did I even come in from? I didn't know anymore and the mist was so thick I could only see a few feet in front of me. "Go around one more time," I told myself, "and then I'll give up and go back." I continued forward around a few more times more than I told myself I would and each time I noticed something new. Far away a bridge appeared and disappeared and then a cliff came into view that the bridge connected to, and then I saw on a rock on the cliff on the other side of the bridge was a huge hammer. I walked toward the bridge when all of this came into view. The mist slowly cleared away to leave a contained wall.

The bridge was old and some boards were missing. It hung at an awkward angle so that if I were to slip I could have nowhere to go but down. I made the mistake of looking below and seeing a very long drop to darkness. "You can do this, Elsa. It's for Alisha, for Alisha. For Alisha." The first step creaked and gave way and I flung myself backward. "For Alisha," I whispered again and held onto the rope tightly. Each step was shaky and it felt slow. I held on with both hands, trying to lean my body weight toward the good side of the bridge. Every so often another board would break underneath my weight but I pressed forward until I got to the other side. My breathing was short and heavy and a breaking sound behind me made me stop breathing. The bridge was gone when I turned around. "So much for going back that way." I whispered.

The hammer was beautiful! It was made of gold and had silver parts in between the gold. Scratched jewels were welded on distastefully to show how many people after Solus wielded the monstrous weapon. It was like King Arthur. If I could get it I could save my sister.

Both of my hands rested comfortably on the hilt and I pulled. It didn't budge, it didn't even move. "Come on," I whispered and tried again. Still nothing. I pulled and pulled and pulled for several minutes. I kicked it, I tried pushing, I tried anything and it wouldn't move. "Come on! I need you! I need you to save my sister…I can't…" I put my head on the hammer. I couldn't do it and I started to cry hot, angry tears. How come I found it but I can't pull it out?

I took it in both my hands again and tried to lift it. I just wanted to waste my energy away and then I wanted time and the earth to stop for a little while so that I could have more time to think. The hammer was heavy. So heavy that it scratched the stone and fell on the grass. I laughed hysterically. "I moved it!" I announced to the trees.

I slowly dragged it down the hill it was perched on. At the bottom of the hill was flat ground with patches of flowers mingling among the grass and purple flowers grew next to a dirt trail that led to the autobots. Why didn't I see this trail before? It would have been much easier to just take this path.

Everyone was surprised to see me with the hammer. "The bridge broke," I explained. "Now that we have the Forge we can get Alisha back."

"No," Prime sounded sullen.

"Why not?" I yelled.

"We cannot let Galvatron have the Forge. With it there could be dire consequences."

I stared at him. Hate bubbled inside my stomach. "There has to be something we can do, Prime! She's family!" Prime was silent for a long time. The wind blew my hair into my face and I looked at the Forge. The Forge of Solus Prime seemed so much duller now but it still looked beautiful.

A hand came down and took the Forge. My hand slid out from the handle. I couldn't breathe with the thought of Alisha being in danger another day.

"Alpha Trion, what do you think you're doing?" Crosshairs yelled.

I looked up to see the Forge in his hand. "I believe I am taking the Forge. Oh, but I wouldn't move." He hovered the hammer right over my head but something about it felt strange. This wasn't like the last time he kidnapped me, he had help to do that. Somewhere deep inside I knew that Trion actually would never hurt me and, for a moment, I wondered why.

Nobody moved an inch. They felt that Trion would harm me or maybe they were afraid to find out the truth. Nobody said a word for a long moment except for Bee. "Okay, okay, just calm down and tell us what you want."

"What I want?" Trion's voice was half mocking as he snatched me from the ground. "What I want you won't give."

"Sure we will! Just name it!" Bee sounded desperate.

Trion didn't answer him as he took off.


	14. The Girl and the Forge

"What are we doing?" I asked Trion when he landed. He allowed me to ride his shoulder while he walked.

"What do you think we're doing? We're going to save your sister."

"Why? Last year you didn't seem to care about me or my sister."

"Oh? Was it not I who suggested to build a fire in the Hall of Records to keep you alive?"

I opened my mouth but shut it again. It was him who suggested that. Maybe Trion liked humans better than he was willing to admit. "Thank you. How do you plan on finding Galvatron, though?"

"Shouldn't be that hard," Trion set the Forge down and fired three times in the air. The shots sent off a beautiful array of metals that snowed down on us. Soon I heard a low rumbling of a semi that transformed into footsteps. I held on to Trion so as not to fall while Galvatron appeared. Alisha held onto his shoulder, too scared to try and jump down.

I stood slowly. "I've brought the Forge just as you've asked."

"I didn't really think you would do it," Galvatron admitted. He forced Alisha from his shoulder.

Alisha gave me a disapproving look but she wouldn't understand. She'll only understand when she has kids of her own. Trion picked up the Forge and held it out to him. As Galvatron reached out Trion took Alisha in his hand just as Galvatron took the Forge. It didn't move from the ground.

"What kind of trickery is this?" He demanded of us.

"No trickery. You've heard of the myth of Thor, right?" After a pause I went on. "Legend has it Thor's hammer would only be picked up by someone worthy of the hammer. Same principle applies. The only reason we were able to pick it up was because…well I don't know why."

Galvatron pointed his weapon at us. "You will not get out of here alive if I cannot have the hammer."

Trion had no time to turn his back before he was shot. I was flung from his shoulder from the force of impact. My ankle twisted and made a horrible cracking sound. I screamed and held it. Alisha was dropped a little more gracefully and she came to my aid. I tried pushing her away but she wouldn't budge despite Trion tackling the young transformer.

"The Forge," she whispered as if there were someone else with us she was talking to.

"No, don't go!" She was out of arms reach too easily. She grabbed the handle and lifted. To her the heavy hammer was nothing more than featherweight. Her eyes widened and it made me turn around. Trion and Galvatron were only feet away from me. The ground shook with each footstep.

I got to my feet but my left foot couldn't hold my weight. Alisha wrapped her arm around me to support me and she half dragged me away before one of them could tumble over on the spot we moved from. We didn't get very far but I couldn't hobble any longer. We took cover behind some boulders, panting from adrenaline and exhaustion from my leg.

"You shouldn't have brought this here!" Alisha started the scolding. "I was fine!"

"Fine? Being taken by the enemy doesn't constitute as fine." I could barely hear myself over the labored breathing.

"This," she lifted the Forge, "doesn't help either. I was being protected. He couldn't have hurt me."

"Protected? That's right, I forgot about your imaginary friend."

Alisha rolled her eyes. "Solus Prime," she said simply as she peeked around to watch the fight.

"What?"

"That's the name of my protector, Elsa."

I stared at her, trying to get a sense of where she would have heard that name. Her face gave away no answers. She peered around the boulder to try and get a sense of where the other two were. "Where did you hear that name?"

"My dreams. She promised to always protect me." She looked at me. We stared at each other for a long while. Suddenly a noise that sounded like the engine of a jet filled the forest air. Trion and Galvatron took off in flight, leaving us to fend for ourselves in the forest we weren't familiar with.

I allowed myself a moment to relax but then wished I hadn't. Pain shot up from the middle of my foot up to my hip. I bit the inside of my cheek until it bled. My heart pounded in my ears, muffling the sounds of Alisha. Red and black dots covered my vision and my head hit the ground hard. The impact pushed me into the darkness.

 _I don't remember when the black cleared away. My feet were on solid ground. The ground was made of a metal that I was unfamiliar with. There were tall, thin structures scattered randomly around me and in front of me, on a throne, sat a giant transformer, bigger than Prime and scarier than Galvatron. There were spikes that came from his back and for a moment I thought of a porcupine._

 _Like the others it didn't move when it spoke, "You are the human Elsa…" His voice boomed. The metal earth trembled underneath me._

 _It wasn't a question but it sounded like one. I nodded. I was too much in awe at this monstrous creature._

 _He explained, "We have much to talk about." The structures around us bowed at the sound of his voice. Now he moved. He allowed me to stand on his hand and he took me to his eye level._

 _"Are you one of the Thirteen? What is your name?"_

 _"I come before the thirteen Primes. However, this is a conversation for another day. There isn't enough time to speak or for proper introductions, though I wish there were. So save your questions for another time, Elsa. Our race, the Cybertronians, became an easily corruptible race. One could argue it started with the Fallen but there has always been an evil among my race. Unicron wants no survivors in the galaxy. The power given to the thirteen Primes drew Unicron to them and so he corrupted one and the rest died protecting the Matrix and the other artifacts like Alpha Trion's quill and the Covenant." As he spoke the scenery around us changed to show the story he told almost as if I were watching a movie._

 _"Covenant of Primus," I whispered._

 _"That's right. Your Earth was chosen because the race hadn't been corrupted. There are few of you that somehow haven't been touched by this kind of evil and so thirteen of you have been chosen to carry the artifacts like those before you. You, Elsa, do not have a complete set, however. You destroyed the Covenant."_

 _I nodded. "I had to. I had no choice."_

 _"I know." For a moment everything around us showed the battle with Galvatron before he fled after the book was destroyed and then it disappeared as quickly as it came. The scene now rested in an open meadow not unlike the one the Forge of Solus Prime was in. "Alisha can make you another one and then the Hall of Records is yours along with the books. You have been chosen to take Trion's job. The fact that you can see me now means you have matured enough to take it on." He set me down on a grassy plane. "I will see you very soon, my child." Before I could call out another question I could suddenly hear a warm voice that drew me near._


	15. Primus

The stars danced above me. Alisha was curled against my side. There was a huge fire pit and circled around were all of the autobots. They looked like they were sleeping. Slowly I sat up and tested my foot. Pain shot up to my hip again and I quickly got off of it with a grunt.

"You're awake," Prime was sitting across from me on the other side of the fire. "Alisha didn't think you'd wake."

"I'm a lot tougher than that, Prime. You should know," I limped over to him and sat on his outstretched leg. He was surprisingly warm for someone made of metal but that was probably because of the fire. We sat in silence for hours just watching the sky and fire. Alisha didn't seem to notice that I moved away from her. She continued to mumble in her sleep.

"Prime," I finally spoke, "my dreams have changed again."

"Tell me," there was no judgment in his voice. His voice brought pain to my soul. It was the same tone of voice father used when something was troubling me. Prime was more fatherly than anyone would liked to admit.

"The Thirteen have completely disappeared. Now I see a new…cybertronian but I don't know his name. He was bigger than you or any of the other Primes that I've seen and he looked kind of blue."

Bee stirred as the fire died down and the sun's rays started to peak from the mountains.

"I do not know of this one. However, the other Thirteen disappearing must mean that their job is done. Do not worry about it too much." Prime watched the sunrise with me. The sunrise here wasn't as beautiful as the sunrises in the desert.

"What happened to the Matrix? Do you know what happened to it?"

"The Matrix was already used." He looked like he wanted to say more but that's all he wanted to keep it at. One by one the other autobots started to wake. Alisha was so tired that Hound picked her up before Crosshairs shot at Bee to wake him up. The two arguing woke Alisha.

"Prime, can you do me a favor? Instead of taking me home can you take me to the Hall of Records?"

"Where will I go?" Alisha complained.

"You will stay with Hound. Keep her safe, Hound. Don't let her out of your sight for a second."

"Of course. Not a hair on her head will be harmed when you come back!" He proclaimed.

I didn't want Alisha to make me another Covenant so I never mentioned it. I simply said, "And Alisha, hide the Forge, okay?"

Alisha folded her arms, muttering childishly. I couldn't help but laugh.

Snow buried the Hall of Records. I insisted Prime help me instead of Bee. I wanted Bee to go home. However, Prime made Bee stay instead while he tried to find Trion. The snow was so thick and cold that it took us several months to completely uncover the Hall and to get the snow out from inside.

Every now and again Bee would get word of Prime locating Trion and Galvatron. Trion was finally located but Galvatron was nowhere to be found in these months. There was once when I went into Moscow and was surprised at how Christmas passed by without me knowing! Alisha knew only because she paid close attention to Christmas break.

Bee and I finally finished closer to February. I gathered several books that looked interesting and took them with me into Moscow. The hotel was warm and I finally felt how exhausted I was. I let it take me down to the depths of dreaming.

 _Blooming apple trees and grapevines and blueberry bushes surrounded the cybertronian I had seen before. The garden looked very much like how I imagined the Garden of Eden. In this dream, unlike the others, we were the same size. I smiled._

 _"Will you tell me your name now?"_

 _"Yes, and you may ask as many questions that you have. My name is Primus…"_


	16. The Creator

Alisha waited for my return at our newly built house. It would cost me a lifetime of savings but it would be worth to have my beautiful house back. She didn't hesitate to run at me full speed and tackle me in a loving hug.

"I wasn't gone for that long, was I?"

"You were gone since December! Yes it took a long time!" Alisha scolded. "You missed everything! I thought you said you were done in February!"

"I was but I had to stay and read up about…well that doesn't matter." I had to brush the dirt from my pants. "My god it's hot out here!"

Alisha rolled her eyes at me. "I got something for you." She pulled me inside the house and to the table. On it was a leather-bound book with lettering only seen on Cybertron but I could read it perfectly.

"You made me a Covenant of Primus?" I picked it up and looked through it. It felt old and full of life and death. It felt right.

"Solus Prime showed me how to make it. She said you needed it so here it is. You could have told me about it."

"I didn't want you to make it until I knew for sure how to use it. I never did get to learn of how to use it with all those months up in Russia but I did get to see how…how lonely Trion was."

Alisha took my arm and squeezed lightly. "You won't end up as lonely as him. Everyone loves you too much, Elsa."

She was right. Everyone loves me to much. Is love enough to keep me company?

Alisha took off for orientation for school and the other autobots who remained answered a call from Prime leaving me to my own work. I sat in my room with Covenant and Quill, staring at the two items as if they would suddenly tell me their secrets. After half an hour I became frustrated and walked down to the kitchen.

As I came back up the stairs I became dizzy. The dizziness was nauseating. "I have to lay down," I told myself but I kept tripping over my own feet. Soon the colors blurred together and I fell on grass. I opened my mouth to talk but I couldn't. What was going on?

I heard a voice and when I looked up I saw Primus. He kneeled in front of me as if bowing to me but I knew better, he wasn't bowing he wanted to be at my eye level. "This, my child, is what your visions will feel like."

I opened my mouth to speak again but nothing came out.

"You cannot speak unless you are to witness this in the future. I can tell by the look on your face what you are about to ask so I will answer. You have always had visions but they have never been so outright like this. Your daydreaming, your dreams, everything you've ever dreamt of since you were born have always held some meaning. Your life has led up to this. This is your destiny. Live it out well. When you wake you will have moved. Your body moves in accordance to what needs to be written down. Your body serves the Creators purpose."

"Elsa!" The voice belonged to Bee. It made me jump. Primus was right, I had moved on my own accord. "Are you okay?" Bee was worried.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just…" I looked around at everyone. All of the autobots and Alisha stood around me in a circle. I looked back inside the house. Bee lightly tapped my head.

"You have a bump," he examined.

"Yeah I fell from the stairs."

"What happened? We've never seen you so…" Hound looked up to find the words.

"Out of it." Crosshairs finished for Hound.

"I think I had a vision. Someone from wherever you guys come from kept appearing to me in dreams and he said from now on my visions would be more like this where I just kind of stare off into space. He calls himself Primus." I looked at Prime. "He calls himself Primus," I repeated as if he hadn't heard.

"Dreams of the Thirteen are common. He's your guardian!" Alisha grinned but her grin soon faded as Prime corrected her.

"Primus is not apart of the thirteen. He is from before any of us. He is the Creator and the Creator never gets involved with these affairs. Maybe you are mistaken, Elsa."

"That's what he called himself. Who else could it be? If the Creator chose thirteen humans and we each see the original owner of our artifacts then why am I not having visions of Trion? Trion's alive so who else could it be?"

"Is it possible that he's taken special interest in her? I don't blame him one bit she's an interesting human." Bee finally said.

Prime shook his head and sighed. "I guess that is possible but unlikely. You're sure he said Primus?"

I nodded. It was the only name that made sense.


	17. A Brother and a Father

I was at the kitchen table with the book in my hand when I was shoved into a series of visions just like every morning before for the past month. I wrote down everything I saw until the last one. The last one took place at dusk and I watched Galvatron and Trion fight. Galvatron had lost his arm but he soon took revenge by ripping off both of Trion's arms. Then forced him to kneel while he drove a sharp object into his chest.

"No!" I screamed. I was to witness this event. I couldn't. I took the book and threw it away from me. "No! I won't do it!" I screamed. The scenery immediately changed. I was no longer sitting on the ground I was being crushed in Primus' hand. "I won't let Trion die!" I spat at him.

"You have no choice," he looked down at me like a child. "You will eventually write down what has happened. Any visions you have you must, it's your job as the recorder of history."

He set me down and I was back in my chair with the words written in the book _Trion dies at the hands of Galvatron._ I screamed and threw the book across the room. It landed in the sink.

I walked outside where Bee waited in the garage. "Bee, pick up Alisha when she gets out of school, okay?" I started walking away but Bee made a worried sound. "I'm going to go find Trion. I'll be back. I promise."

I didn't have a map because I knew exactly where his death would be. It was only a few miles behind my house where the cactus formed a triangle near a mesquite tree that held a hawk's empty nest. Trion often sat behind the house, drawing in the sand.

He never turned around to know I was there. "You seem disturbed."

I ran to him and looked up at him. All of the bad things he's done, everything he's ever said that I've ever hated him for. All of my hateful and hurtful feelings toward him that I once had disappeared into dust and got carried away with the wind. In truth, I loved Trion like I loved Prime. I loved him like a brother or a father and soon I would witness his death. Tears poured out of my eyes. "Your going to die in a fight with Galvatron here at sunset someday. I don't know when…I'm so sorry. I didn't want to write any of it." I hugged his leg and cried.

Trion gently picked me up in his hand. "You wrote my death? Then that's how it'll be." I didn't understand. How could he just sit here and allow this to happen? How could he accept this as fact? "But I want to lay down a little piece of advice for you. Be fearful of your visions and be careful because more things like this will happen. You'll watch all of your friends die twice or sometimes more. Being a Recorder is so lonely because you want to spare yourself of the misery and pain and sadness. Don't ever be married or have children, or they may suffer the same fate as you. It's better to have never known companionship than for people like you and me who don't know a life of solitude." Trion sighed sadly. "Now you see why I betrayed my job and why I betrayed Primus. I didn't want to be his slave anymore."

"I'm going to watch you die…twice…I don't want you to die!"

Trion let me cry in silence. I cried for hours. Soon the sun started its decent below the mountains. Tears stopped pouring out long before that but I continued to scream as if that would change anything. Finally I said, "Trion, I don't hate you. You're apart of my family."

Trion smiled and opened his mouth to say something but it was lost in an explosion. I was tossed from his hand to the ground just short of a cactus. Galvatron prepared for another shot.

"Move!" Trion yelled as he turned to attack Galvatron. I didn't know where to run. I just stared at the fight, anticipating the end. The end took hours and when it happened I screamed and ran to Trion and Galvatron.

There was something Trion had hidden within himself that I didn't see or care about. Galvatron took off as I approached as if I were the plague. "Trion!" I screamed as if it would help but what was I to do?

I sobbed loudly. There was no one around to see me. Even the stars and the moon gave me privacy from their lights.

After a while of sobbing I did my best to drag Trion's arms back to his body. I put a hand on his lifeless face and whispered, "You're apart of my family, Trion. I won't ever forget you."

The wind kicked up and dragged my dark hair in a sweet caress. I closed my eyes for a moment and listened to the winds whispers and I caught a hint of Trion's voice. _"I will never be far, Elsa. I will always be in the books of the Hall."_

The wind died down and so did his voice. I ran my knuckles on what I assumed to be his cheek if he even had one.

Is this how father would have looked in his old and dying age? White hair, silver specks in his eyes, wisdom of the years that couldn't be counted. I laid on his hand and curled up as if it would keep me comfortable. I didn't feel myself fall asleep.

 _I stood still in anger and frustration and sadness and I watched Galvatron gathering metals that were scattered around the earth. The metals fit together perfectly to form a cybertronian that was bigger than Prime._

 _Galvatron fit the last piece into its chest and it awoke just as angry as I felt. "Master Unicron," Galvatron bowed._

 _"I'm not writing this!" I tried screaming and the scene morphed into Primus. "I will not be alone!" Now I could speak and yell and scream at Primus' face._

 _"Did I not tell you this is not your choice? What Trion says is not true, you are not going to be alone, my servant."_

 _"Whatever happened to my child, Primus? Are you expecting me to call you master now?" I curtsied in a contemptuous manner._

 _"You are forgetting your place in my presence. My child became too…comfortable for you. Now you are a servant and next you will be a slave unless you can show me you don't need me to watch you like I should have watched Trion. You will write this. You won't be able to stop it."_

I screamed when I felt someone tearing me from Trion's hand but when I saw it was only Prime I stopped. "Trion…" I said as he walked away from the body.

"We will give him a hero's burial." He promised me. "What happened?"

"Galvatron," I said simply. I wasn't going to say any more than that. Prime didn't ask any more than that. He sensed my anguish.

When he set me down in front of Alisha she asked a million questions but I didn't answer any of them. I walked inside and wrote what I saw, though I wrote vaguely, and then I turned to Alisha and shoved the book at her chest.

"Elsa, speak to me!" She demanded.

I shoved the book at her chest. "Keep this hidden. Keep this safe. I will see you…I don't know when…" I walked outside to Prime. "Take me to the Hall of Records. I don't want anybody else to take me but you, Prime. Please…don't fight with me."

He didn't argue even when the rest of them did and for that I was thankful to him.


	18. The Threat

_"I saw them die. Me and my brothers will die and I cannot tell a soul…"_ I threw the book on a shelf and took out another book. _"I saw a man take the Matrix…"_ I threw the book on a shelf and took out another and another and another. Through the week of not speaking to anybody I spent in the Hall of Records and I read any book I could. I think I just wanted to get to know Trion because I didn't when he was alive. I wanted to feel his presence. I wanted him to be close to me again.

Whenever I read my name in his books it reminded me of what he said about how he often wrote about me. In one of his books it read _"…and she approached me, crying, and told me how I was apart of her family. I'd never known a family so dysfunctional as this one but I think I enjoy being apart of it more than I did the last one."_ The sentence made me mourn all over again.

I sat on the ground with a red book in my hands and I read through it's contents. Unicron's name appeared again and again next to Primus. I frowned as I read about the battle they had and why the Thirteen were made. The story didn't make any sense.

Prime waited outside like he had been every day. He stood when he saw me but he didn't speak probably for fear of spooking me back inside. "Who's Unicron?" I asked.

"Unicron? Why do you want to know about him?"

I showed him the book and he read its contents. "Tell me about him?"

"It was a story we told on Cybertron. Unicron is Primus' twin brother and is the representation of everything evil and chaotic in our universe. Primus eventually found out about the evil overtaking his brother and set out to destroy him. He failed. The Thirteen were created to put an end to him but they, too, failed to do this. The two beings have no physical form as far as we know."

My stomach lunged at the thought of my last vision. That was Unicron. "We have to go back. Galvatron is planning on resurrecting someone and we need to stop him."

We stopped by Moscow so I could grab my things but as I ran past a TV set an image made me stop. The image was of the transformer that I had dreamed about. The video cut out as he destroyed an entire town. I ran back to Prime outside of Moscow. "No time we have to go back now!"

I directed Prime to an abandoned factory on the boarder of Nevada and Arizona. I opened up the rusted door and we walked inside. A book I recognized as that of one from the Hall of Records lay open on the floor. I ran to it and skimmed the page. Trion told of what Galvatron would need and Galvatron must have taken the book to see what he needed.

"What has he done?" I whispered as if the book could tell me.

"I cannot waste time," Prime said. "I'll get you home."

"And then what? You're going after Galvatron?" After a moment of staring into his eyes I screamed, "No! You can't! What if you're killed?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Elsa, sometimes one must sacrifice themselves for a greater good. I would be happy to give up my life protecting you and this earth."

I shook my head. "No, please don't!" I pleaded but he wouldn't hear it. He took me home but I wouldn't talk to him the entire way. I kept trying to keep myself from crying. When my house came into view I finally spoke, "Prime, you're apart of my family. You know that…right?"

"Yes, I know that."

"Good," I wiped away the tears that were starting to come out. "Then you'd better come back in one piece, okay?" He took off shortly after I approached the door and then slowly I walked inside.

As soon as I walked inside Alisha wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace but I didn't feel it. I opened my mouth to speak to her but nothing came out. The colors of my house washed away and transformed into outdoor scenery in the middle of a city.

 _The skyscrapers were knocked over and houses were crushed at Prime's feet. He wasn't fighting Galvatron he was fighting Unicron. Around me lay the bodies of Hound and Crosshairs. Crosshairs was severely injured but Hound was lifeless. Unicron pierced Prime's chest and ripped out his Spark. The Spark shined so brightly I had to shield my eyes with my hand._

I gave up the Covenant, Primus. _My thoughts echoed so loud that it spooked me._

 _"Who do you think you are to give up the Covenant?" I felt a giant hand squeeze my tiny body. I yelped when I could feel my once broken ribs. They felt like they would break again. "I have done everything for you from birth and this is how you repay me."_

 _"I hate this! I hate you! You ruined my life! I never wanted this and neither did Trion!"_

 _Primus squeezed harder. I couldn't breath through the pain but I continued to yell._

 _"You forced me into this. You didn't do me any favors by choosing me you've cursed me by choosing me! And I won't do this anymore!"_

 _Primus simply laughed. "You are a foolish child." He opened his hand so I sat in his palm. I was doubled over on my knees and holding my sides with my hands. After a while I looked up defiantly._

 _Above us there was the bluest sky and the darkest night as the sun rose and fell quickly. "In four days the autobots will be in pursuit of Unicron and they will leave you. In four years when Alisha has matured Unicron will come and devour your world like he has many worlds before yours." Behind me I could hear movement as he spoke. I turned to look out over his fingertips at the movement of everyone._

 _"What's the point of showing this to me, Primus?"_

 _"You have four years to quell my anger or I will not come and Prime," Prime walked into view from a cloudy meadow but as soon as he came into perfect view he crumbled into dust, "will die."_

 _I laughed. "You don't have a physical form!"_

 _"Don't I, though?"_

The color of Primus blend together and Alisha was shaking me on the floor. I stared up at her with wide eyes. "Don't ever tell me where the Covenant is, Alisha," I begged.

"Why not?" She allowed me to sit up.

"Prime will die if I write in the book and so will Hound. Crosshairs will be injured…I don't even want to think about why Bee was missing from my vision. Please, just whatever you do, never tell me or anybody else where the Covenant is. As far as you know it's destroyed."

Alisha hugged me again. Her golden hair was soft to the touch and her tears felt cold as ice. She reminded me of our mother and she was just as beautiful too. "Don't leave me like that again!" She demanded of me.

"I won't, Alisha. I promise I won't."

Several days passed by before Prime came back and just as promised he came back in one piece. I couldn't contain my happiness for very long. As soon as Prime drove up through the driveway I hugged him. Nobody else got as much time with him as I did that day. He told me of Galvatron's second death possibly by Unicron. Unicron fled, possibly in the atmosphere.

"I'm going after him," he announced to me before anybody else.

"I'm coming with you!"

"No, you and Alisha must stay here."

"It's far too dangerous for humans," Crosshairs agreed.

"I'm coming!" I demanded. After a long hour of arguing I finally gave in. I watched them leave for what I hoped wouldn't be the last time. Before they left Bee held me in his hands in his version of a hug. "Bee, you're the best car, and friend, any human could ever ask for. Please, come back home safely."

"I'll do what I can," Bee promised.

After they left I spent all night staring up into the sky. I could see everything from the roof of the garage. I closed my eyes and I could see Trion from under my eyelids. _"You'll do great, kid,"_ I could hear him in the back of my mind. I opened my eyes, stood up, and I screamed at the sky, "We're coming for you, Unicron! And after that I'm coming after you, Primus! Don't you ever threaten my future or my family again!"


	19. Broken

I felt like an old woman. The four years flew by me like a comet. Before I knew it Alisha graduated and then summer flew by and she left me for a university in the east and I was alone in a big house in the middle of nowhere. She never came home the first Christmas because of her job. Now the cacti flowers blossomed with the fresh scent of desert spring.

I sat in front of Trion's grave like I always did by the mesquite, which now had another nest full of owlets. "…And then the coffee came out of Lynda's nose!" I laughed as I told the story to a dead body and a sleeping owl. My laughter died down quickly. "I miss everyone," I whispered before I could notice the scenery changing.

 _Primus' voice was an old and familiar noise, one I often heard in my nightmares. "You're running out of time, Elsa, my servant, and you have done nothing to quell my anger."_

 _I looked up at Primus. Hate filled my heart and rage engulfed my entire being. Suddenly it was snuffed out. I had no more energy to hate or be angry. I had nothing at all. "I know," I said softly._

 _"You have six months left." He warned._

 _"I know."_

 _"Still not talking to me?"_

 _I stared at him._

 _"No, of course you aren't."_

 _The vision started to waver._

 _"You do know that if you cannot do your duty everyone you know and love with die, don't you?"_

 _"You don't have anyone else to write, do you? It'll take you years to find someone else to replace us all."_

 _Now Primus said nothing. The ripples began to become bigger._

 _I thought of Alisha and her boyfriend and the clouding vision of their children but I was not in any of the pictures they would hang on the wall. "I'll get the Covenant back if you can promise Prime won't die."_

 _"When the Covenant is in your hands then you can negotiate with me."_

Primus' voice echoed with the wind and was drowned by the ringing of my phone. I picked it up. "Hey, Alisha!" I yelled, doing my best to be as excited as I could. "How's college?" I stood and walked back home. The coyotes howled in the distance, angry at the setting sun.

Alisha told of her boyfriend's proposal and her acceptance and her classes and her teachers. I walked inside the house and prepared a frozen chicken and veggie dinner.

"Elsa, how are you doing?"

I noted my sister's worried tone. "I'm…I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Where did you hide the Covenant?"

She was taken off guard. It took her several minutes to answer, "But I thought you didn't want it."

"I need it now. Just please, tell me where."

"On your bookcase in the study."

The bookcase! Of course! Of course she would hide it in plain sight because I wouldn't have noticed if she added or took anything away. I ran to the study and grabbed it from the bottom shelf.

"Elsa, you don't sound okay. I heard you got fired."

I stopped moving. I did get fired. I argued with a customer about Prime and whether he was really a defender of humans or not. I had been warned time and time before and this time had been my last after I punched the customer for calling me…not very nice names.

"Yeah but I'm looking for another job," I lied.

"Well, your word isn't enough anymore, Elsa. I'm sending a friend over. He should be there by the time you wake up."

I laughed. "Okay, yeah, who is this friend?"

"He says he's a friend of Optimus."

I rolled my eyes as I walked down the stairs. "Um…okay so is it Hound?"

"No."

"Bee?" I took the food from the microwave and whimpered quietly when it burned me. I was hoping she would say Bee or Prime himself and tell me they were all back and maybe even wanted to surprise me but hope took energy so I quickly snuffed out the small warm feeling in my heart.

"No," Alisha sounded like she was typing.

"Crosshairs? Or Prime himself?"

"No and no." Her voice suddenly sounded very far away. "Hey! You need to go now, okay? She won't be able to survive without a…well a familiar logo not so much the face."

"Who are you talking to?" I demanded as I turned on the TV.

"I told you a friend. He calls himself Drift. You won't believe where I found him. Funny story, he actually was sent here by Prime. There are apparently more autobots in the galaxy than we thought."

"Yeah, okay."

"Hmph! You still don't believe me! Whatever! You'll see him soon."

Dizziness overtook me. I had to slow my walk and grab the wall to steady myself. The phone fell with a thud and I barely heard Alisha's voice calling my name. Everything became distorted. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the floor.

 _I opened my eyes to the sound of blades. Slowly I sat up and watched the scene. The Galvatron-made transformer, Unicron, battled against Hound, and Bee, and Prime, and Crosshair_. _Despite being on a desolate planet I breathed just fine and it didn't feel cold. Still, goosebumps raised themselves and_ a chill _went down my spin. Unicron's eyes were empty and evil. Even in this vision I could feel the countless number of stars he's destroyed. He was a black hole and he couldn't be stopped._

 _Hound, Bee, Crosshair, and Prime were all badly wounded but still they fought._

 _"Autobots, retreat!" Prime ordered. They retreated out into the open space._

 _Unicron laughed. "Wherever you and your autobots go, Prime, I'll always follow. You won't get away."_

I blinked away the vision and looked down at my lap. The Covenant was open with the scribbles of my handwriting within the two once blank pages. I could feel Primus' presence right next to me, applauding me but still not satisfied. I shook away the feeling and turned the A/C up. When I picked up the phone I could see that it was dead. She would think I hung up on her again. I sighed and rubbed my head.

Slowly I walked up the stairs. The hall was quiet now but I still could recall everything that once took place. I still could hear the laughter of Alisha and her boyfriend while they talked privately with the door open and I could hear the sounds of Bee chiming into their conversation from the window. I could feel Alisha push past me as she ran down because she overslept and was almost late for school. When I walked in her room, which stood untouched except by the dust, I could hear all of our conversations blurred into one. The happy. The sad. The ones when we contemplated what life would look like.

I gave up everything to be a Recorder. Is this how Trion felt when he abandoned everything? Did he mourn like I did?

The hot, infuriating, mournful tears that came whenever I thought of Trion and Alisha, and Primus. At first I was determined to never let Primus have his way. I wasn't going to let him control me but now I was broken down and I had nothing to protect like I did before. Or maybe I did and that's why I chose to be broken down slowly until I felt hollow. It was a hollowness that even the Covenant couldn't fill.

I don't remember falling asleep in Alisha's room. I sat on the floor, looked up at the ceiling and I closed my eyes and when I opened them again it was morning and the sounds of a helicopter startled me to my feet. The last time I heard that sound was, well, years and years ago when I first met Bee.

I ran outside almost hopeful that it was Sam but I was soon led to a slight disappointment. It wasn't Sam. The autobot towered over my home. He wasn't as tall as Prime but he was taller than Bee. His eyes showed both his wisdom and his youth. He was arrogant but not like Bee or Crosshairs, he chose when to be arrogant very carefully before mocking his opponent because he couldn't help himself. He wore the headdress of a daimyo, the outfit of a shinobi, and the swords of a samurai. He was Japanese all the way around.

"Drift?" The words came out of my mouth of their own will.

He knelt carefully so as not to crush anything. "You are Alisha's sister?"

I nodded. With all that I've seen I was slightly taken aback how much his appearance took my breath away. We stared at each other for a long while before I realized he was waiting for me to say more. "S-sorry. Yes, I'm Elsa. It's nice to meet you, Drift."

"And you as well, Elsa."


	20. Unicron

I spent most of the morning with Trion's grave and left Drift to his own devices at home. The mother owl fed her babies early and cooed to them until they fell asleep. I smiled thinking of how I did similar things with Alisha. I would tuck her in when she was fast asleep and when she had night terrors, before she became too old for it, I would sing her back to sleep. I would often sleep by her side on those nights.

Drift soon approached, though quietly. Had he been my height I don't think I would have noticed. He didn't speak; he just sat and watched the mountain's shadows grow away from us.

Finally, I said, "So, where were you while the other autobots were here?"

"I guess you could say on vacation. I was in the most peaceful meditation when I got Optimus's message." After another long while of silence he asked me a question. "Who is buried?"

I studied him for a moment. His body language told me I didn't have to answer. "How did you find Alisha?"

"Oh I did not find her. She found me. I crashed while entering your atmosphere and she helped me repair myself. You have the most kind sister."

I couldn't help but be proud for myself for a moment and then a moment longer. "I raised her right then." Primus' presence nagged at me again so I let the pride go.

"I must say I was expecting you to be different."

"What do you mean?" I hugged my knees.

"You are a very quiet woman and very unhappy. I expected a very energetic, and how you say…pumped up?"

"Pumped up? You mean like stubborn or on edge?"

"No, more like…feisty…or aggressive!"

"Ah, I see. She must have exaggerated."

"Then why are you so unhappy?"

I opened my mouth to answer him, to retort some smartass comment but it was drowned out by the sound of a falling meteor. There were a few of them. I stood. "What is that?"

"That looks like Bumblebee…and Optimus Prime!" He sounded excited but he wasn't as excited as I was. I nearly ran forward but I tried to contain myself until they landed with a harsh crash.

Drift transformed. The transformation even took away words to describe what it looked like! I didn't have the time to process it anyway. I got in and he took off immediately. When we hovered over the destination where the autobots gathered I jumped out.

Bee caught me and held me in his hands. I just laughed. My laugh sounded very weird, I hadn't heard my laugh since Alisha left and I nearly forgot what it sounded like. Primus' presence suddenly disappeared and all I felt was overwhelming love.

"I missed you too, Bee." I pat his face when he put me on his shoulder. I looked at Prime and noticed he was ridden with broken parts as was Hound and Crosshair. Even Bee was in bad shape.

Crosshair and Hound greeted Drift while Bee, Prime, and me talked and walked home ahead of everyone. They didn't need to fill me in but they did anyway. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees.

"What happened while we were gone?" Prime asked.

"Alisha went off to college. I think she went somewhere in the northeast."

Bee made a worried noise and took me off his shoulder. He held me in his hands and stared into my eyes. I looked away, I knew what he wanted to ask but I didn't want to explain. My pride was hurt.

When we got home everyone else took off in the garage except Bee. He sat outside my window while I stared at the TV.

"You're different from when we left," Bee noted in different voices from whatever he could find on the radio.

"I know," I sighed.

"What happened?"

I could feel the tears creep up on me. I wiped them away. "I got lonely. I didn't want this to happen. To be the Recorder, I mean." I walked to the window and leaned out of it. "When Alisha left I gave in. And I got fired from my job. And now Alisha is gonna get married and I thought I was going to be left in this house all alone. And then you came back to me." A smile snuck across my lips. "And now…now I don't feel so lonely."

Bee gently tugged me from the window and lay on the ground. I fell asleep on his chest, staring at the sky, and thinking about Trion.

 _The fire here was different than the fires in my dreams in the past. I wasn't scared that my parents were dying as I watched my house burn. A silhouette coming from the burning building, a tall and dark silhouette was what made me want to run._

 _"Bee!" I screamed for him but he wasn't around and he didn't come. "Prime!" I backed up slowly until I couldn't back up any more._

 _The eyes were red and full of evil and full of millions of years of being alone until anger swelled so much he could finally control Megatron to do his will. Unicron came in the view of light._

 _"My brother sought out the help of human children?" Unicron laughed and kicked me. I went flying and my back hit the ground. The shock stunned me so that I couldn't move when Unicron approached. "You seem useless to me." I tried to sit up but he pinned me to the ground, kneeling over me. "But maybe I could use you still."_

 _My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't breathe with him hovering over me. Then, his hand was off of me and he went soaring toward my house, still burning in the fire. I rolled over and gasped for breath._

 _"Leave the girl be," Primus ordered._

 _Unicron laughed as he sat up. "This is your doing, Primus. The girl is weak and easily manipulated just like Trion."_

 _I grabbed my neck and pulled away a chain that wasn't there before that wrapped around my neck and my wrists. The chain was connected to the ground and it held me in place like a prisoner._

 _"What are you talking about?" Primus spat._

 _"You broke her down and now you plan to build her up but before you can do that I will have taken her from you. Watch your slaves closely, brother, because once you turn your eyes away…" Twelve more humans appeared alongside me. At the very end was Alisha and in front of each of us were the thirteen artifacts, even the quill and the Covenant. "Once you turn your eyes away, brother, you won't find them there again." Slowly, Unicron stepped on each of them, starting with Alisha. I screamed but I couldn't speak and I couldn't move as one by one he stepped on the thirteen and finally his foot hovered over me and came down._

My gasp woke me. Bee was still asleep. In his dreams he seemed to forget I was laying on top of him and he rolled on his side. I slid down his chest until my feet hit the ground, sending a shock up my ankle. I grunted but walked it off easily. The sun was just barely peaking over the mountains but I knew it was later than I thought. It was fall and the sun was starting to set earlier and earlier.

Drift was awake, watching the sunset. I sat near him but I wasn't comfortable enough to sit next to him. His odd presence still made me stiff.

"A sunset's warmth makes

The most cold hearted person

A beautiful, happy one."

I gave him an odd look. "Haiku," I realized aloud.

"That is correct. Beautiful, is it not?"

I shrugged. "I never liked haikus much. I never liked poems at all as a kid."

"You are still a child."

"No, I'm not. I haven't been a child for years." The sun was halfway up the mountain.

"You are still youthful, my friend."

"I can be youthful but I'm far from a child."

I could hear Prime and the other autobots stirring from their slumber. One by one everyone woke up and by the time the sun was high in the sky everyone was awake. I stood. "What now?" I asked them as they stood around me in a circle. I looked at Prime.

"Hound and I will circle the planet until we find Unicron. Until then Bee will stay with you."

I looked at Drift. "Can you stay with Alisha, then?" It took all of my being to ask a stranger this. "Just keep her safe, even if nothing will happen to her."

The daimyo-samurai bowed. "I will keep her safe." He promised.

I looked at Bee and Crosshairs. "Looks like it's just us two again. Like old times."

"More or less," Crosshairs folded his arms and muttered something under his breath about being left out of the action.

My dream haunted me for the rest of the day. When the sunset started I visited Trion's grave and described to the waking owlets my dream. The owlets chirped loudly while their mother took off in flight in search for food. Only the chirping owlets answered. The wind didn't stir like it often did when I visited Trion's grave.

I heard Bee pull up in his car form a little while later. He sat next to me after his transformation was complete. "What's wrong with you now?"

I sighed softly. "I…you know I'm not sure anymore. I'm happy you're back but…Unicron and Primus still haunt me."

"You're allowing them to haunt you." Bee suddenly sounded wise.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't want to be happy so you don't let yourself."

"I want to be happy!" I screamed at him.

"Fine, then you're still depressed. Call it whatever you want it's all the same thing for you. Just be happy…like you used to be."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," I whispered and walked the opposite way of my house into the open desert where the unknown lay.

"Where are you going?" Bee yelled.

"I'm getting away from you! I'm not just gonna sit here while you accuse me of letting Primus destroy my life!"

Bee yelled some more but I tuned him out. The night was cold and it became colder the deeper into the desert I went until, finally, I was too exhausted to walk. I fell to my knees and stared at the desert floor. The sand wasn't soft it was hard like a rock and the clumps of clay that scattered around crushed easily if I picked it up. It left red stains that were easily patted away.

The moon shone a bright blue. My jaw locked with a scowl. I screamed at the moon. I don't know why but I needed to scream. I screamed until my throat was raw. With what I had left I screamed, "Trion, why did you leave me?"

He didn't answer.

I felt the invisible chains around my throat and wrist, pinning me to the ground. My hands went to my throat but I didn't feel anything.

"They hurt you, didn't they?"

The voice froze me in fear.

"You want to hurt them, don't you?"

I couldn't breathe. The imaginary chains tightened their grip. Flashes of the dream went through my mind like a slideshow. I had to force myself to look up at the beastly transformer in front of me. "Unicron," the name was forced from my lungs. I didn't think I'd ever see him in person.

"Yes, child, I am Unicron. And you," he snatched me from the ground before I could move, "are going to rewrite history."


	21. Fear of the Night

Unicron never transformed, he simply walked further into the desert. I couldn't scream or run or speak so I sat in perfect unmoving silence. Finally he stopped and dropped me. I didn't try to catch myself on my feet and surprisingly it hurt less. Unicron threw down a pen and paper.

"Write," he ordered.

Unicron kind of reminded me of Loki. He had the horns for it but I think that even the god of mischief would run if he saw Unicron. His eyes held no emotion, except maybe hate, and he exuded an evil aura that forced every living animal and insect away. He was so tall that I was sure he could touch the clouds until a group of clouds passed over him to cover up the full moon.

"This isn't how it works," I coughed out the words. "I need the quill and Covenant."

"Oh? Is that what Trion told you? Write. Write anything and prove it to yourself."

I raised an eyebrow and stared at the paper and pen. Nothing happened. I wasn't wafted into a vision like before and the pen didn't move on it's own. The wind moved and in my head I could hear Trion and Solus Prime. Their voices blend together. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Write! My patience is wearing thin, child."

"Get me the quill. The quill is what I need." I opened my eyes. "The quill is the only way to write the future."

He narrowed his eyes and stared at me. I met his gaze the best I could. I didn't want to be considered weak. My heart beat in my throat and I could feel every pulse in my body quicken until the pulsing halted all at once. "It's at my house." I continued after a long period of silence.

"Fine," he breathed out the agreement. He didn't like the thought of going back where the autobots were. Is that why he waited until I was far away from Bee? Did he know or sense my fear? Did I show the fear on my face?

In the distance I could hear rumbling of cars. _Run!_ My instincts told me. I ran toward the sound but I didn't get very far before Unicron pinned me to the ground. "Where do you think you're going?" He hissed.

I tried to squirm out from his grip but the more I did the harder he pressed me to the earth. The weight of his hand was enough to take the air from my lungs. I struggled to breathe. It was just like in my dream.

From amidst the noise I could hear Prime's voice. "Elsa, protect yourself!" The world around me slowed as I raised my hands to protect my face. Prime jumped from the direction I was running toward, halfway into his transformation he attacked Unicron who stumbled backwards. Sparks flew and burned my hands but I had no time to tend to them. I got up and ran toward the autobots as one by one they ran to help their leader.

"Look, he's running away!" Crosshair mocked. I turned to see that it was true.

"But…why?" I whispered. The breath hadn't returned as quickly as I thought.

There was another sound, a strange sound that I've heard from somewhere but I couldn't place on where I had heard it. The presence transformed and its voice left a terrible, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. "He's weak still, as am I," Primus answered.

Slowly I turned on my heels. Primus was huge! He was bigger than Prime but he lacked color, unlike everyone else. Primus kneeled and put down his hand, probably for me to step into. "It is nice to finally see you in person." Despite the kind tone I could hear a slight hissing. He was still angry that I wouldn't bend to his will.

I stepped back toward Bee who copied Primus' position. I climbed into Bee's palm. "Would be better if you had stayed home, Primus." I climbed onto Bee's shoulder and sat with my legs crossed.

"Hey, now, be nice, Elsa." I couldn't tell if Crosshair was joking or not.

"Or what? He's gonna kill her? I'm not gonna let that happen," Bee interjected roughly and got into a position to fight.

"Nobody is here to harm anyone," Prime yelled to get everyone's attention. "Primus is here to help. Put your feelings against him aside for now." Prime started to walk home and, after a few steps, transformed. Everyone followed suit, even Bee. I was caught inside his car form. My forehead hit the steering wheel.

"Sorry," Bee said as he took off.

I looked back to watch Primus transform into an older car. I folded my arms and slouched in the seat. "We don't need his help," I muttered childishly. "We could do this on our own."

When we got home everyone transformed back into their full form. Bee was careful to make sure I sat on his shoulder.

"Now what?" Hound was looking at Prime and Primus.

Primus spoke, "Unicron and I are still too weak to fight each other. He will be gathering his energy to face me."

"That's what you think," I didn't realize I had spoken aloud until everyone stared at me.

"He's taking the easy way out. The only reason he sought me out was to write a definite future but right now the future is ever changing."

"What do you mean?"

Primus answered Hound. "She means she cannot see the future. The future is clouded."

"The only thing I can say for sure is he's seeking to destroy the Thirteen."

"Why would he want to do a think like that?" Bee asked.

"Because the only reason I made the Thirteen was to defeat Unicron."

"And that's still our mission…isn't it, Primus?"

Primus bowed his head in a nod.

"You idiot!" I screamed at him. "You're endangering the lives of children!" Without thinking about our major height differences I lunged at Primus. Before Bee could catch me Primus caught me in both of his hands.

"How do you know they're children?" I could hear the underlying tone. He was scolding me like father used to. I was angrier now more than ever. _He_ had no right to act like a father! Had it come from Prime I think I would have taken it but from Primus…I simply wanted him gone.

"I…I…"

"Do you mean to say I endangered Alisha like she's the only one I put in this situation?"

I couldn't answer. I couldn't hide from Primus. Sensing Bee's uneasiness he handed me back to the yellow alien. I hid my face behind Bee's jaw when I was safely returned on his shoulder.

"There is no reason for us to get worked up now. I will send a message to Drift, Elsa, and warn him. He will not allow your sister to suffer in death." Prime promised. I didn't answer him but I think he sensed my silent acknowledgment. "Let us treat Primus as the humans have treated us."

"So then I get to shoot him, right?" Bee pointed a weapon at Primus who raised his hands in a surrender fashion.

"No," Prime scolded the young alien. "Treat him with the highest respect, Bumblebee."

"Treat him with the highest respect," Bee mocked silently when Prime turned away from him. I had to cover my hands over my mouth to silence my laughing.

Prime dismissed everyone but told Bee to walk out into the desert with him. Bee dropped me on my porch and followed Prime while Crosshair and Hound parked in the garage. This left Primus and me alone. Quickly was he to snatch me from the ground before I could walk inside.

"Okay, you cybertronians need to stop doing that! I'm not a doll, I can get hurt!" I struggled in his hand. "Now put me down!"

As punishment, I suspect, he squeezed me. Or maybe it was to silence me. Whatever his motive he was successful. My lungs squeezed shut. "I would be more respectful, child. You still belong to me. I made you." He loosened his grip, allowing me to breathe.

"No," I coughed, "my parents made me and then I had to do the rest myself."

Primus squeezed again. A sharp pain and iron filled my mouth. "Oh child, so much you still have to learn. Alisha has accepted her duty, as have everyone else. You are the only one who fights it. You are no different than Trion. Continue on this path and you will suffer the same fate. History repeats itself until someone learns." He set me gently on the ground. I fell to my knees and wheezed.

Pain shot up my torso and I coughed up spit and blood and spit it into my hand. A chunk rested in my palm. It took me a moment to realize the blood came from my tongue and that I had bitten a piece of my tongue off. I kept spitting on the ground until blood stopped. "I hate you," I told Primus finally. I felt a rush of relief and the bitterness of hate filled my mouth. "I hope you leave very, very soon."

"You and me both." Primus transformed and drove behind the garage. It took a very long time for me to move in the house. I couldn't enjoy the night and I couldn't enjoy the comfort and warmth of my own home.


	22. The Fates

Prime and Bee came back when the sun rose. I spoke to Alisha over the computer's web camera. I could barely hear Drift in the background. "I see…okay I'll be more careful then."

"That doesn't make me feel better. I know you, Alisha. You're like dad."

"I think you're mistaken. You are like dad running into a burning house!"

"When are you going to let that go?"

"When you stop running towards danger, idiot."

I smiled. I missed having these arguments with Alisha, if that's what you could even call them. It didn't feel like an argument more like playful banter.

"See! That's a genuine smile!" Her smile disappeared. I knew what was coming and I couldn't look at her. "I miss the old you, Elsa. When you were happy and determined. Now you're just…depressed and determined and you give up too easily at fights now. You let this Primus break you down. Why?"

I didn't have an answer for her.

"Alisha! We have to leave now if we want to make the reservations!"

"I'm coming, babe. I have to go. Promise me you'll smile more?"

I forced a smile to my face. "Talk to you soon, kid." I logged out before she could object. My temples throbbed with a headache. A little drummer boy was pounding on the inside of my skull.

"She has a point." Prime's voice startled me.

"Don't you start too, Prime. I already got the lecture from Bee and Alisha."

"Everyone has noticed it. You have changed."

"Yeah well…life changes a person."

"You have not changed for the better."

I sighed. "I don't have time for a lecture and you don't have time either. I get it. Look, I'll…I'll be happier once tweedle-dee and his brother are out of this solar system and into one on the far reaches of space." I grabbed my backpack. It was older than I thought and the bottom ripped and my clothes scattered at my feet. I groaned and grabbed a tote bag from the closet and started to stuff everything into it.

"You packed?" Prime let me walk onto his arm and rest on his shoulder.

"Yeah. We can't stay here."

Prime nodded in agreement and met everyone else in a circle. However, with all night to think, the only one who had come up with something was Alisha. Prime filled us in on what her part of the plan was. She planned to find the rest of the thirteen.

I kept thinking of what Primus said the night before. About him creating me and Alisha. I wanted to dismiss it as nothing but gibberish but I couldn't let it go. What did he mean? It churned in my stomach and bubbled in my heart and it made my soul scream.

"Did you hear that?"

I snapped out of my thoughts. "What did you say, Prime?"

"You're going to help your sister. Primus and Bee will go with you."

"Primus? Why Primus?"

"He said he knew where they all were hiding." Bee spat.

"And what are the rest of you doing?"

"We're going to wait until he comes out of hiding." Prime explained. "He'll attack sooner or later."

I looked at Primus. "Why are we gathering the Thirteen?"

"You are all in danger, like you said. You have the-"

"Covenant and Quill. Don't babysit me I already have a babysitter. I have…four, actually." I winked at Bee who seemed to be the only one to get the joke.

Everyone transformed and I rode with Bee. I watched the others until they disappeared into the distance. I had a bad feeling running through my nerves. It made me jittery and I had a sudden need to move.

There no longer was a dizziness I was simply plunged into the daydream.

 _In this daydream I watched a boy run in the forest. He couldn't have been more than eighteen years old. His skin had been darkened by the sun. Suddenly he tripped and fell on his face. Something was following him but whatever it was didn't have a face. The boy quickly took out a gun, hiding in the band of his pants and, only for a moment, the boy seemed to become two people. He was not only the human boy I saw but ghosting him was a darker cybertronian._

 _"The Fallen?" I whispered, although even I couldn't hear myself. His watch gleamed in the sunlight but the numbers stood out to me as a date. The date was a month ago.  
_

 _Another cybertronian appeared. He had the look of decepticons in the past with a demon-like face but he seemed even-tempered, unlike Galvatron._

 _The boy shot at this decepticon and hit him but there were more. Something about them didn't seem right. I realized that they were shorter than Prime or Bee, maybe eight feet tall. Something wasn't right with this._

 _The scene changed suddenly, something that hadn't happened before, and I watched a woman who was old enough to be my sister, try fighting off the things herself. One by one until I counted ten these people were being attacked. They were of different ages and races and heights._

 _The tenth one I saw was Alisha and Drift. They fought together, side-by-side, swords and hammers fending for themselves until an even bigger version of the clones I was seeing appeared. He was Drift's height but far faster than him._

 _"Who are you?" Alisha demanded. "What do you want?"_

 _"I want nothing from you," he backhanded her and sent her flying into a tree. She coughed up blood and let go of the Forge and her phone fell from her pocket. Slowly he walked to her and picked her up. Vaguely I could make out a time on her phone but the date was hard to see. The time was 11:59 and soon turned to 12._

 _"Who are you?" Alisha demanded again as she was being picked up like a rag doll._

 _The scene shifted again to a valley. Ten humans were now collected. "Well done, Scourge. There are only three remaining." Unicron applauded._

 _"The Alpha Trion and Prima reincarnates still hide too well. I cannot seem to find them. But do not worry, I will find them."_

 _"And what of the last one?"_

 _"The Quintess Prime? I have his location already. I will be heading out to fetch him very soon."_

 _This Scourge, I sensed, was very loyal._

 _The scene changed one more time; this time I was standing and Drift bowed in a manner that let me know how apologetic he really was. "I am very sorry. I…I failed you, Elsa."_

 _"It isn't your fault, Drift. I knew it and I didn't tell her."_

I could feel it. The cold tears that I would feel. "I know it…and I won't tell her," I whispered. In my hands I held the Quill and the Covenant of Primus. "Something about the timing," it hit me suddenly. The timing of when Alisha would be kidnapped and the amount of people didn't make any sense. "Bee, pull over!"

Bee stopped so suddenly that I nearly flew into the windshield. I got out and ran to Primus who was behind us. "Don't get up but tell me could Alpha Trion see the past and the future?"

"Yes…"

"So it's possible I could to?"

"And the present, yes. That comes with the job."

I ran my hands through my hair and breathed through my teeth. "Damn it!" I yelled and kicked him, though this time my anger wasn't geared toward him.

"What's wrong?" Bee asked.

"We'll be too late. We'll be too late…" I leaned against Primus and covered my eyes with my hand, searching for answers in the dark. "Unicron…one by one he'll kidnap us. We need to find whoever we're closest to."

"Derek," Primus said. "He's the replacement of Prima. He's the closest."

I nodded. "Okay. Then lead us to him, Primus." I got back in Bee and bit my lip then stuck my head out the window. "Primus, me and Bee will meet up with you back here by tomorrow! I have to get something!" Primus didn't argue. He zoomed ahead.

Bee made a confused noise.

"I figured we needed some alien technology," I dialed a number I never thought I'd have to use. "Sam!" I yelled when the ringing stopped, before he could ask me what kind of trouble I was in now. "I need some guns from you. You know, alien guns."

"Why?" By the sound of Sam's voice he put me on speaker and walked away.

"I…might be in trouble."

"No duh, genius."

"Hey now, old man, don't sass me! Just bring me some damn guns!"

"Fine, fine, okay. Where?"

I gave him the location of a small town where, I figured, no technology existed except for maybe TV's. I was right. There was no wifi anywhere only landlines. As soon as Sam came into view Bee transformed and hugged him as well as he could. I was dropped on the ground and forgotten about momentarily while Bee and Sam had their reunion.

Sam laughed. His smile was so big that it brought out his wrinkles and laugh lines and he looked old enough to be maybe my uncle but certainly not my father. He was still far too young for that.

After Bee finally put him down Sam opened the trunk of his car. The guns were huge compared to guns we would normally use. "The government has no idea that I have these so keep it under wraps." He ordered.

"Got it." I took two in each hand but with the weight and size I could only take one. From the back seat of his car Sam took out a sword like what Drift might use but it was smaller and made for a human. "Here, take this too. It's sharp enough to cut through the type of metal the transformers are made out of." Sam cast a worried gaze down on me. "And…be safe okay? If you need to hide there's a house I own out in Canada where nobody will find you. The coordinates are engraved on the sword, actually. On the bottom of the hilt."

"That's stupid," I laughed.

"Yeah well I figured you'd lose a piece of paper." Sam closed the car doors. "Hey, take care of her, Bee!"

Bee made a sound like a mock offense. I couldn't help but laugh and Bee transformed again. "Thank you, Sam. Take care of yourself."

Sam gave me a two-finger salute as Bee took off back where we left Primus.


	23. Escape Plan A

Primus was late. Later than I wanted him to be. While he was late I wrote my nightmarish daydreams in the Covenant. Something hit me then in one of my daydreams. "Trion was locked away in the Hall of Records." I told Bee. "He asked to be locked away because he didn't want to watch his brothers die at the hands of The Fallen."

Primus came soon after my explanation. The night air was chilly and the wind made it colder. The man I expected wasn't a man at all. He still had boyish features and he was my age.

"You must be the one always pissing everybody off," Derek put out his hand with a grin on his face. "My kind of woman, I say."

"You're cocky. Not my kind of man. I'm Elsa. This handsome car here is Bumblebee. Don't piss him off. He's got quite the temper."

Derek put his hands up in a surrender. "Okay, okay, I get the picture." He almost sounded like he wanted to laugh.

"Who's next on our list?" Bee asked.

"Nobody," I dog-eared the page in the Covenant and threw it in the passenger side. "We're going to Canada."

"Wait, we aren't getting anybody else?"

"It's not wise, Derek. Unicron is after us, after all of us. He's afraid of the Thirteen still."

"A big bad transformer is afraid of a bunch of humans?" He laughed. "Why?"

I opened my mouth to answer but Primus beat me to it. "Because the Thirteen can destroy him. He's afraid you'll be successful so he's trying to destroy you first."

"It's better if we keep him on the run. And it's better if we keep separated too." I realized aloud. "So I guess you are going to Canada."

"No. Girls should go to Canada."

I huffed. "Fine, if you're such a tough-" The explosion was almost like a censor. Bee protected me like he did all those years ago, with his back toward the enemy. I looked around him and I saw the smallish Scourge. "Bee, he found us!"

"How?" Primus was protecting Derek. I wouldn't have thought of Primus as the protective type.

"I don't know. We need to destroy these things."

"Don't have to tell me twice, sister." Bee punched the first few that came at him and started shooting the rest with what looked like missiles. There were a few that got past him that went straight for Derek. I trusted Primus to take care of them while I shot the rest of them that came at me. However the more we destroyed the more that came at us. Where were they coming from?

My head rang suddenly and before I could process what had happened my ribs hit the asphalt. Bee's foot stepped in front of my view of the horizon making me jump back. Something tugged at my leg. Half of one of the robots still moved. I screamed and kicked it until it let go. Bee scooped me up and back up until he hit Primus' back.

"What now, genius?" Derek spat.

"Running is a very good option." However, we were surrounded. Where could we run to?

Almost as suddenly as they came they fled in the same direction as if they were being called on by a higher being.

"Um…what the hell just happened?"

Nobody could answer Bee. What did just happen? Why did they suddenly flee? They were easy enough to beat for the most part but they had the upper hand. "Luck?" I finally answered but I knew that wasn't the reason for them to suddenly flee.

Bee started picking up everything that dropped when he transformed but he wouldn't let me on the ground.

"What were they?" I finally asked.

"I don't know." Primus and Bee answered in unison.

I watched the way they left. They left eastward. What was happening in the east? I wished Prime or Crosshair or Hound was with us so I could ask them to check it out for me. Maybe Bee would take me.

I almost grinned and looked up at Bee. "I want to know where they went," I told him.

"You read my mind." Bee transformed around me and took off before Primus could, if he wanted to, object. With the speed he was going we caught up with the back end of the group but we tried to stay as far away from them as we could without being seen or heard. They suddenly stopped in the outskirts of a forest and so Bee stopped too.

I got out and took out the gun. "Stay here, Bee." Slowly I went closer, ready to fire if I needed to. I could hear someone screaming. It was one of the girls but I couldn't see which one. I hid behind a tree and watched the scene I had seen in my daydream unfold.

The girl was no older than maybe Alisha and she had left her back wide open for attack. Before she knew it she was knocked to the ground and pinned.

A sound like a jet flew overhead and landed in the dark part of the forest. Scourge emerged from the area and silently picked her up. "Who's next?" He mused aloud. The girl's screaming was hushed suddenly. She must have fainted. "A little more to the east you'll find more. Go."

They didn't need any more instruction than that. While they made a buzzing sound like a swarm of wasps I ran back to Bee and got in. "They got another one. That's why they left us. They were having an easier time with her than with us." We couldn't just go to Canada and hide and I had a feeling Bee was thinking the same thing but what else could we do? I called Alisha.

She answered on the first ring. "Well this is a surprise." She didn't sound surprised she sounded mad and sarcastic.

"I don't have time to fight with you, Alisha." I rubbed my forehead. "I need to warn you." My mouth suddenly felt dry. No, of course I didn't warn her. I had nearly forgotten.

"Warn me about what?"

"Warn you…about…never mind, it's probably nothing to worry about. Make sure you can fight well, okay?"

"Oh…" she sounded disappointed and I hung up on her before she could ask any more questions.

I sighed an irritated sigh and rubbed my jaw. "Unicron…would be out in the desert wouldn't he?"

Bee made a sound, a worried sound. He knew what I was thinking.

"Yeah I know it's stupid," I rubbed my eyes and screamed. "I don't know what else to do, Bee! I can't protect her…but I have to. I don't know what else to do." I laid my head on the steering wheel.

Bee started moving.

"Where are we going?" I whispered.

"Well first I'm dropping you off where they won't find you."

"I'm glad one of us still has our heads on, Bee."

He dropped me off at a hotel in Canada and I watched him speed away. Wherever he was going I trusted that he would come back for me. The hotel was pretty secluded but not so secluded that if anything happened it wouldn't be on every news station in the country.

The hotel was actually pretty nice but the mattress wasn't too comfortable. Outside I watched time pass me by slowly. Slower than it should have. Finally I turned on the TV. Almost everything was in French except for one news channel.

They talked about the kidnappings of everyone and how random they seemed but that it was happening at a steady pace. Suddenly they cut the woman off to talk about something happening now. I covered my mouth as I watch it. I couldn't believe I was watching it. My own sisters kidnapping and worse still is the TV wouldn't shut off when I tried to turn it off. I had to finally unplug it and I sat in my room the rest of the night crying quietly.

I had just talked to her hours before. If only I had the guts to warn her of her fate.

My eyes were red by midnight and I watched for any signs of Bee that never came. Where could he be?

I watched the window all night and most of the morning but I fell asleep until midday. I probably could have kept sleeping too if it weren't for the screaming outside of my hotel room. I opened the door slowly. The halls were clear and as quickly as it came the screaming ceased.

The mini Scourges dragged a middle aged man across the hall. I ducked behind the door when I heard more footsteps. It approached my door. I looked around for my alien gun that I had parked on the other side of the room. With nothing else I prepared for my knuckles to be broken but the fight would be worth it in the end.

The door shut suddenly and I just punched. Whatever I punched was extremely squishy and not at all what I expected.

"Ow! Hey! I don't usually hit women." He punched me square in the nose and it forced me to look up at him. This was no robot but a man and certainly not middle aged. He looked kind of geeky, actually, but he was a lot stronger than he looked. His hair was jet black and obviously thick and his skin was pale but not like he'd never been in the sun for months it was more like the type of color that simply couldn't tan no matter what he did.

"I think you broke my nose," I whined while I held it.

"Shh! They'll find us." He opened the door a little and peeked outside. I peered over his shoulder. The robots were still on the hunt for someone.

"They're after me," we whispered in unison and gave each other a weird look. "After you?"

"Why would they be after you, girl?" He shut and bolted the door locked and proceeded to move things in front of the door.

I folded my arms. "My name is Elsa. Why would they be after you? You aren't one of the Thirteen."

He looked like he wanted to laugh. "The what? Thirteen what? Every cop is after me."

"Those aren't cops."

"Don't those transformer things help cops?" He looked genuinely confused.

"These aren't the rights ones." I opened the window.

"You never did answer my question, Elsa."

"And I'm not going to." I gathered my things and threw the sword to him. "At least defend yourself on a level playing field."

There was a pounding noise at the door and slowly it was being nudged open. I didn't wait for him to decide whether to stay or to flee and simply jumped out of the window. The landing was hard. The geeky boy had an easier recovery time when he jumped and was smart enough to roll. A two-story jump wasn't the best thing for my possibly already broken bones. How had I not died yet?

We ran in the same direction away from the hotel. The boy veered off slightly but I didn't notice, I just wanted to get out of there. A car cut me off and I nearly ran into it. The passenger side door opened. "Get in!" He ordered but I was already in by the time he finished. He punched on the gas and we were off out of the town.

My lungs burned and I could swear I squeaked when I breathed.

"You aren't used to running, are you?" But he was just as out of breathe as I was.

After a long time of sitting and catching our breaths I finally said. "Elsa…My name is Elsa."

"You said that already. You must not be too bright."

My jaw locked and I huffed. "This is the part where you introduce yourself."

Something washed over his face. Embarrassment maybe. He turned a light pink color. "Ky. That's all I'm saying."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Ky. Sorry you kind of got dragged into this."

Ky shrugged. "I got dragged into a lot worse and a lot more boring jobs. What's up with the alien robots? You said they were after you."

"That is a…a very long story." I combed my hair with my fingers. How would Bee find me?

Ky shrugged again. "I've got time and apparently so do you."

He was right about half of it, I did have time but I had a very limited amount of time and my story would sound so fantastical to someone like him. Would he believe me? How much should I trust him? Could I even trust him? I studied his face, his posture, his body language but he showed nothing but interest.

"Well…. I'm friends with some transformers. That's the short version."

"Okay but back there you said something about thirteen?"

My face got hot. "Right that, well, just forget about that. It was nothing."

"I get it you don't trust me." The fact didn't seem to bother him at all. "So I ran for nothing then, I guess."

"I wouldn't say that. Who knows what they'll do to the rest of them." Deep in my stomach I knew who they were looking for and possibly found. I didn't want to think about it. Maybe my gut feeling was wrong. "I need to find Bee."

"Allow me to help. Is he a brother of yours?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"Where is he?"

I shrugged. "Just drop me off at the nearest city once we cross the border and I'll find him on my own. Eventually."

Ky laughed as he drove. "Not a chance. I'll help you look for him. What kind of a car does he drive?"

"Um…a yellow one."

He rolled his bright green eyes. "That narrows it down. Do you at least know the year? Or the logo of the car company?"

"No," I half lied. I still didn't trust him enough to tell him the truth. For all I knew I was being kidnapped by a psychopath serial killer.


	24. Reunited

I made sure my phone had a strong signal and I hoped that Bee or Prime or someone would be able to find me if they traced it while I called Alisha's phone. I knew she wouldn't answer so it didn't surprise me when it went to voicemail. I sighed and laid on the top of the car while Ky was inside a sandwich shop.

I closed my eyes and said nothing as the voicemail recorded every background noise it heard. I couldn't say anything. What could I say? I hung up the phone after a few minutes.

As the doors opened and closed to the shop I caught snippets of the news of Canada. The small town went into a panic and under a type of military lockdown.

 _I'm sorry,_ I apologized silently as if I were the one who caused the lockdown.

Air rushed onto my face and I shot up, turned around and pointed the gun that was strapped around my shoulder. Bee jumped a little at the sudden hostility. "Bee!" I smiled from ear to ear. "You were able to find me!"

Bee made a worried sound.

"He was worried sick about ya." Crosshair voice was as recognizable as anyone else's behind me. When I turned I became even more excited to see everybody else. Prime, Crosshair, Hound, and Drift seemed to hide shamefully behind all of them. I was relieved to find that Primus was not among them. Unlike Bee they were smart enough to stay in their car forms. Before Ky could come out Bee dropped me and transformed. I landed on my feet for once.

"A yellow car," Ky nodded at Bee. "So you found him, huh?"

"Yeah." I took my sandwich from him. "Thanks for everything but we gotta go."

"Go where?"

"Don't know yet but we'll figure it out." I walked to Bee but Ky stepped in front of me, blocking my way. I could visibly see Bee tense. "Ky, thanks for your help, really, but we don't need any more help."

"I'm coming with you. I'm not missing any action. Plus I need to ditch this car. It wasn't mine."

I opened my mouth to yell but all that came out was awkward noises and I twitched from the energy I used to not strangle him. Finally I yelled but he covered my mouth to keep it quiet. "I helped you steal a car?!"

"Yes," he admitted sheepishly.

I pointed at Crosshair. "You're going with him," I muttered through his hand. He took it away and we grabbed our things from the car we stole. I got in Bee.

Ky approached the driver's window so I rolled it down.

"There's nobody in there." His eyebrows knitted neatly together.

"Then take the drivers seat. Crosshair is an excellent driver." Upon his confused look I added, "Oh yeah. This is Bee, that's Hound, Drift, Crosshair, and Optimus Prime. They're all transformers but they don't help police either. They're the good guys, though."

I lost him in his thoughts at the sound of 'transformer.' Ky's face brightened and he practically flew into Crosshair. I couldn't help but laugh as Bee rolled up the window and we followed Prime out from the city.

"Okay, fill me in, bud."

Bee filled me in the best he could. He told me of their second confrontation with Unicron and how much that failed and he told me of how Primus and Derek seemed to have simply disappeared, though they suspect they may be in an area with very little contact of any life in general. He also explained how they think they've found Unicron's location.

We didn't stop and allow them to transform until the sun went down and we were in the middle of nowhere. Their speed still baffled me to this day. Crosshair held Ky by his foot when he transformed.

"Did we really have to bring this guy? He's just one more thing to babysit." He complained while Ky kicked his hand to let him go.

Prime looked like he was going to agree with him but I quickly interjected. "He insisted and he helped me escape silently. You all saw it on the news. He seems like an…an okay guy to keep around."

"Boy, thanks for vouching for me." Ky made it obvious it was sarcasm, which warranted a type of game between Hound and Crosshair that involved throwing Ky like a ball. I laughed with Bee.

When Drift stepped in front of us I stopped. He kneeled with an aura of shame surrounding his entire being. "I am so sorry. I could not protect Alisha," he admitted quietly.

"I know. I don't blame you. Besides we're going to get her back…we are going to get her back right, Prime?"

Prime nodded. "Yes but it should be soon. While Unicron is still weak."

"We need to rest first, though," I insisted. Everyone was tired. Rest was a great idea for everyone else. After a few minutes of throwing Crosshair and Hound became tired and Ky became so sick he passed out after puking. Within hours everyone else was asleep except for me.

I watched the stars, leaning against Bee. The stairs twinkled in a billion different types of lights and a milky set of stars painted the purple sky.

I kept the Quill in my back pocket and the Covenant I held like it was a precious gem. Somehow I became drunk on its power. I didn't want to get rid of it but I didn't want to keep it either.

A streak went across the sky. Another one followed soon after. At first I thought it was a shooting star but they were too scattered to be shooting stars and shot in random directions.

I moved as Bee turned over in his sleep. I couldn't help but smile. He seemed so peaceful and he reminded me of Alisha. I turned back around and suddenly I felt a sharp pain go through my forehead and I fell into a sea of darkness.


	25. Lost

I woke up with a bright light in my face. Alisha's head darkened the sun's rays. She wrapped her arms around my neck tightly but before I could move to hug her she was ripped from me. I stood in a vain attempt to follow her but guns were suddenly pointed at me. I raised my arms in surrender.

Scourge stood over everything. He threw my sister to Unicron. I was afraid he wouldn't catch her. "I told you she was okay." He said carefully to his master.

"Don't try that again. When I say I need someone alive I expect you to bring them to me in peak condition." He scolded.

"She was half broken when I found her." Scourge complained but he tried to keep it quiet.

I met Alisha's eyes. It told me everything I needed to know. They were all in danger. None of the others were even supposed to be alive but luck kept them alive and soon I would share the same luck as them.

"What of the final one?"

Scourge shrugged. "It's like he disappeared."

"With Primus," I muttered as coherently as I could. Everyone stared at me and Unicron dropped Alisha. With that height I could hear the cry she let out with a broken or sprained ankle. "He's with Primus. That's why you can't find him."

"Switching sides, are we?" Unicron was all too happy at the thought. Happy was the wrong word. He was darkly pleased. "I would have expected it from The Fallen successor…" He dared not say the last words but they hung silently in the air to never be spoken. No way would Alpha Trion have switched sides. After a moment of studying me he must have come to the realization but he never showed it if he did.

"I don't know nor do I care where he is. We split up a while ago and I haven't seen them since. And I must add I thank whatever god is out there for that."

"Some help you are," Scourge snorted.

He was ignored. "Then you'd better figure it out. In the meantime write in that little book of yours or they'll start dying one by one." He pointed at the book which lay by my feet. Unicron turned his back to walk away but my voice caught him.

"You're going to kill us all anyway! You might as well start with me."

"You heard her, boys. Don't kill her but enough to mortally wound her," Scourge ordered. I was shot in the back under the ribcage and another shot was fired at my knee. Alisha's cries was drowned out by the shots and I became parallel to the earth. My hands were shot, one grazed my arm, and just as quickly as it started the firing stopped and the mini robots parted enough to allow Alisha passage through. Unicron never looked back but I imagined he took great pleasure in watching me suffer.

"Make sure she lives," he threatened.

I saw tears in Alisha's eyes. "Why? What does he even want with her?" Alisha demanded.

I grabbed her hand. "Don't…worry…about it." I breathed out the words. I smeared the blood on her hand but she didn't seem to mind or care or even take notice.

"I am going to worry about it!"

"Don't. It'll be okay…Unicron will kill us all even if he doesn't get what he needs. He's just buying time." It was apparent to everyone. Either I was going to write his future or he would regain his full strength and we would all die. I grabbed her ear and painfully forced her down so I could whisper in her ear, so nobody would hear, because if they heard they would kill her or take her away. "Just cover the wounds enough. Don't tend to them like you normally would. Prime will find us." The truth was that I didn't really know but I was going to die by infection first before I ever wrote anything for anybody.

Alisha did what I asked her to do.

"How's Drift?" She asked.

"He's beating himself up." She helped me sit up but I had to lean against her. The bleeding stopped soon after but there was still a burning in my hands and legs and back. "How are you doing?"

Alisha wouldn't look at me but she didn't have to tell me how she felt. She was scared. I squeezed her hand. It was nice to see her again but I wish I could've seen her for summer vacation instead of this situation.

I watched the horizon for any signs of Prime and the others but as midday approached Unicron took the Covenant and moved and so did everyone else. I had to be carried by several different people. I thought for sure they would leave me behind or kill me.

We stopped at the base of the mountains that often had snow at its peak except for in summer. Unicron threw the Covenant at my feet. I picked it up and felt its weight under my hand. The red leather was rough with wear.

I looked up at the horizon behind all of the alien robots, looking for a familiar looking alien but nobody appeared. I had to keep hoping that someone was coming soon. But I saw nothing even as the sun went down.

 _I saw the sun come back up moments later. This was a daydream, I knew. As the sun came back up I saw Primus and Unicron wrestling. They knew the game well, once one hit the ground they were dead._

 _They disappeared soon and the image was replaced with Bee. I moved on my own and I ran toward Bee. My knee never burned either. Nothing hurt anymore. Bee scooped me up in his hands and made a small, worried sound and he kept looking at my right hand. Why? I looked at where it was, or at least where it should have been. I had no right hand. What idiotic thing did I do to lose it?_

I blinked away the vision and looked down at the Covenant. I scribbled down everything from the sun to my lost hand.

"Oh my…"

"Shh!" I shushed Alisha and stood slowly, ignoring the pain that covered my body as I threw the Covenant at Unicron.

"Elsa," Alisha scolded in a whisper.

"I'm not writing anything down for you!" I proclaimed.

Unicron was tired of fighting. I knew he would try anything. With a wave of his hand one of the mini robots approached Alisha with a type of alien sword. She was too afraid to move. The robot brought it down.

I pushed Alisha aside, using my right hand to not so effectively block the attack. The sword went straight through. The pain made me scream.

"You idiot!" Alisha stood and grabbed my arm.

Unicron laughed viciously. "What good did that do you?" He mocked.

"I can't write with my left hand." I whispered to Alisha. "I can't write now." But with the loss of blood my knees gave in. Alisha's call sounded far away.

I opened my eyes and I saw a flurry of metal clashing and scraping against each other. The noise that should've been thundering I couldn't hear at all. Somehow Alisha's voice was louder than anything else.

"She needs a hospital! She's lost a lot of blood. Who the hell are you?"

I moved my head and I saw Ky and I felt his oddly hot hands moving me. I closed my eyes again.

When I opened them the three of us were being carried by Drift. I recognized the inside but just barely.

"No, stay with me! Stay with me you…" I couldn't hear what he called me but I imagined it was an insult to keep me awake. His voice was drowned out by an old and wise voice that warmed my heart.

 _Let yourself go,_ it said.

My eyes closed and opened again. It always felt like I was blinking.

Now I was staring at moving ceiling and on either side of me were doctors. I could see their lips moving.

 _Let yourself be taken away. Trust me this time._

I closed my eyes before I could figure out what they were saying.

 _I knew it was a dream because I didn't open my eyes. I was simply transported into a magical world where the sun and the moon met side by side in a perfect balance of light. I could see the stars but the sky was a bright blue and the clouds were a mixture of purple and white._

 _"I am glad to see you again, Elsa."_

 _I turned quickly. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe who I was hearing. Trion stood in a proud posture but his wisdom and his age made him seem less prideful than what his posture would lead some to believe. He always reminded me of someone I loved but I could never figure out who he reminded me of._

 _"Trion!" I screamed and ran to him. When I hugged his leg I could_ feel _him! I could feel the cold skin of the metal he was made from and for only a moment I forgot I was in a dream. Trion is dead. And in this world I have two hands._

 _It made me frown as I watched my hand disappear into dust._

 _The next thing I knew I was on his shoulder. Magically transported by the power of my mind and the magical meadow that we were once in was now an abandoned city. Trion walked through while I told him of everything that's happened. He listened intently and never once said a word until I was finished._

 _"You aren't really here, huh? You're just a dream."_

 _Trion took me from his shoulder, knelt to the ground and put his hand on the floor of the city. We looked into each other's eyes. His was old and wise and blue and mine was youthful and wise and I think green._

 _"I will always be with you, Elsa Fisher. Even when you cannot feel my presence I am with you. I am in the books in the Hall of Records and I am in the Quill you hold so dear and I am in your heart."_

 _The tears that came out were ice chips. I knew who he was to me now. I stepped from his hand but before I allowed him to stand I hugged his finger tightly. "I miss you, grandpa."_


	26. Lucky Jinx

When I woke the sun had settled in to bed. The lights were on, though, so it couldn't have been too long since it settled. I sat my head up to see the doors at my feet. The letters painted in red read _ICU._ My head settled on the pillow again with a light thud.

Outside I could hear the soft cries of Bee.

"I know but there's nothing we can do to help her now. Lets meet Primus and we'll be back real soon." Crosshair's voice was soft and brotherly. I closed my eyes and imagined him putting a hand on Bee's shoulder as he comforted him.

Bee made the soft crying sounds again. He sounded closer. My eyes tore open and I looked at the window but he wasn't there.

"Sam will be here to protect her, don't worry." Crosshair sounded farther away.

The doors opened and something cold was put to my chest. If I had the energy and strength to move I would have slapped it out of her hand. Except it wouldn't be very effective with my left hand because my right hand was gone.

I didn't look at the nurse when I turned my head and raised my right arm. My hand was gone, replaced by a stub. A part of me was relieved. Now I was useless to everyone. A part of me was also kind of angry that I did it because now I was useless to everyone. Which was better? I wasn't sure.

The nurse put my arm down gently. "It'll only make you more depressed," she said before the doctor walked in.

She helped me sit up with the support of the bed and ran the necessary tests. "You have a lot of bullet wounds but they could be a lot worse. Your kneecap was completely torn, though. Obviously your hand…" She paused. "And your nose was fractured but that was a quick fix."

"My hand," my throat was so dry and scratchy that I thought she didn't hear it. "Doctor, my hand. Is there a prosthetic you can put on it or something?" I drank the water that the nurse gave me.

"Someone already got a doctor to help with that." By the look on her face I could tell she wasn't too happy. "You need a lot of rest, Miss Fisher. And whatever reckless thing you did you need to get out of it quickly." With that she and the nurse walked out. I couldn't hold it against her. Nobody-except for Sam, this Cade fellow, and me-knew that once someone was sucked into their mess there was no getting out of it. You were apart of the autobots for the rest of your life if you can prove you'll risk your life for them. If you can prove you're a brother-in-arms.

Alisha didn't come through the doors as I expected. Sam and Ky and a man I didn't recognize came through and nobody else after. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at them.

Sam answered as soon as he saw my face, "Alisha went with the autobots. Don't worry, they won't let anything happen to her."

I stared at the man behind Sam. He carried a backpack and he looked old like my father. Maybe he was my father's age. His chin was scruffy with new hairs growing into a beard. He rubbed his chin and probably realized how scratchy it was by the look on his face. His hands were clean but they looked rough.

"Cade this is Elsa Fisher. Elsa this is Cade Yeager. He's going to build you a new hand."

"Really?" I breathed out.

"Well that's the hope. I'm basing it off of the transformer technology, which I've only done to make weapons not to make hands. It'll be a little trickier."

"As long as I get my hand back." I tried to joke but I coughed instead of laugh.

Ky stood a little way off from the group. His ear was nicked and he had cuts and bruising along his arm. Cade's hands taking my arm made me jump. He jumped back and let go, half expecting to have been hit.

"Calm down, it's okay." Again he gently took my arm.

"It's so weird. It still feels like my hand is there." A tear spilled from the corner of my eye but nobody caught it, thankfully. My arm hurt and it saddened me to attempt to move a hand I knew wasn't there but I tried anyway. All it did was frustrate me.

"It happens but that's why we're giving you a new hand. You'll be using it again in no time." He took some notes but he looked kind of sorry for me as he did. "I uh…have a daughter around your age. Just a few years younger than you, actually." He explained.

"She's probably my sister's age then, huh? My sister just got engaged. I didn't even think she was old enough…still don't."

Cade laughed a little. "Yeah. That's being a parent for you. Where are your parents?"

Sam elbowed him in the ribs.

"Oh…right…jinx…" Cade muttered under his breath.

"Stop calling her that!" Ky yelled abruptly. "Why do you even call her that? Because she has a habit of getting hurt? She's leading a pretty damn interesting life unlike you two!"

The three of us looked at each other. He didn't know anything. Ky didn't know about my history. Or about theirs either. "Can you two leave us alone for a while? But bring the pitcher of water a little closer."

The two men didn't argue. When they were gone I beckoned Ky closer. He pulled up a chair. "How could you just sit there and take the ridicule?"

"That wasn't ridicule, Ky. That was pity."

"Why would they pity you? You have the coolest life!"

I looked down at my hand. In my mind my hands were folded but they weren't. Of course they weren't. "When I was a kid my parents were killed in an electrical fire." I explained. "Before that my grandfather died and left me with nothing but the Quill. I was able to be recognized as an adult by 16 but they wouldn't allow me to keep Alisha. Every six months or earlier, if I could, I would attempt to get custody but every time it was denied. I was denied credit to buy a house and I was denied every job offer until I finally got a job at a coffee shop and my old roommate kicked me out of my old apartment. And then" I couldn't help but smile. "Then I…I bought a car and it seemed like everything was picking up but then my ex boyfriend kidnapped me and then I was kidnapped by his car. Who…who turned out to have become apart of the family even though he was a fugitive for a bit. And then I was fired from my job. So you see, they don't call me a jinx because they ridicule me. They pity me for my background. They probably pity me for being dragged into this mess. I'd pity me too because now I can never attempt to lead a normal life. I'll always be the lucky jinx." I reached out to lay the invisible hand on his but I stopped and hid it under the blanket.

Ky stared at me. "Lucky jinx? That's an…interesting spin."

"It's the nickname I feel I've acquired. It kind of fits." The lucky jinx. I wondered if anybody really called me that. I've never heard of one and it kind of seemed contradictory but I liked it enough to keep it.


	27. Dark Presence

The hospital finally agreed to discharge me after a week of recovery. I waited outside for Bee with Ky and Sam. I rocked on the balls of my feet and hummed softly to myself. Sam and Ky stood as far away from each other as they could. All week they hadn't gotten along since Ky yelled at Sam and Cade.

In the distance I could see someone, but it wasn't Bee. As it came closer I recognized it as Drift and only because it didn't look like it was driving on the ground.

When he landed we got in. "Where's Bee and Prime?"

"They decided to stay behind," Drift explained as he took to the air.

I frowned a little. I had hoped Bee would've picked us up but I tried not to voice out my complaints too much. So instead I watched out the window and I watched the ground and I rubbed my stump. Sometimes I could still swear I felt my hand so when I looked at it, well, I tried not to look at it.

The Quill poked my thigh through my pocket and the Covenant I insisted Sam keep in his little military-like backpack until we saw Bee again. No use keeping it with me now.

The ground beneath us rushed and blurred and, for a moment, changed color. I tried looking back but it had disappeared too quickly so I ignored it and watched the earth again. Soon, though, we jerked forward.

"What was that?" Ky demanded.

I looked behind us. Drift was being dragged down by Unicron who held onto his back. Before I could tell the others Drift transformed and threw us as far away as he could without harming the boys. However, I could feel the stitches in my knee start to pull a little. I gasped in pain but fought through it to sit up.

Drift had a fearful but almost sad look to his eyes. He wanted us to run. As Unicron went to strike him down Drift was able to turn on his back and block him. The boys tried to drag me but they only dragged me so far. I couldn't hear them yelling for me to hurry and run.

Drift stabbed Unicron but he only laughed and dodged the attack enough so that only his arm was severed and Unicron brought down his own sword.

I couldn't scream. I stared in disbelief as I watched the transformer who was supposed to protect my sister die before my eyes. How could I not predict this? How did I not see this in our future?

My spirit seemed to return to me as I gasped for air. I didn't even notice that I wasn't breathing. Then Unicron looked up at us. "He's going to kill us." I told them.

"Why do you think we're telling you to run!" Ky yelled and dragged me to my feet. I turned and we sprinted forward. I didn't want to leave Drift but I couldn't allow someone to kill me here and now. Now that I was going back. I wasn't going to die right after I recovered from the hospital visit. I wasn't going to die now that Bee and Prime were back. I wasn't going to die now that I found Ky.

The earth shook with each step Unicron took. It slowed me a little. I could feel a droplet run down my leg from the back of my knee but I had no time to check if it was blood or if it was sweat.

Unicron easily stepped in front of us but while the boys stopped I ran towards him and under him but was soon stopped when his foot moved in my path. He was going to play with us like a cat plays with a mouse. I looked up at him.

"I don't need you any more. You should've just written," he pointed his weapon at me, "the future. I would've let you live then."

I laughed darkly. "If that isn't the biggest lie I've heard I don't know what is." I wasn't afraid of him anymore. His evil aura wrapped around me like a blanket of ice but I no longer was afraid of the cold and I wasn't afraid of the dark. "Kill me!" I challenged him.

"If you insist." He thrust the sword. I closed my eyes tightly, expecting it to hit me but it never came. I opened my eyes to see Primus. He blocked Unicron's sword with his own. I met the boys' eyes and we took off running behind Primus. Behind him was Bee and Prime and Crosshair and Hound. We ran to them. Alisha came into view with the Forge in hand.

"I see you're almost at your full strength. You wanted to test your strength so you attacked Drift. That was the reason for this attack…"

It wasn't a question but Unicron answered. "I see you aren't anywhere near my level of strength, as usual. You never were, which is why you made the Thirteen." Unicron and Primus circled each other.

I hid behind Bee and now I was able to look at the blood running down the back of my leg. "Alisha," I didn't need words to tell her what I needed. She wrapped my leg in the gauze she stuffed in her pocket.

Primus attacked first but Unicron blocked it.

"We have to help!" Crosshair announced.

"No, this is my battle," Primus declared.

His distraction lead to an opening for Unicron that he gladly took. Primus fell to his knees. "This is too easy."

Primus knew something I didn't. Alisha handed me the alien gun I carried around so fondly. I looked at her. "Hold it for me here," I showed her where I would put my right hand and she became my right hand. I aimed and shot at Unicron's head as he brought down his sword to end Primus.

Despite Alisha's unsteady hand I hit Unicron but only in the shoulder. Primus took this opportunity to run his sword through. Something didn't feel right to me. As Unicron fell I could still feel his presence, his evil aura tainted the air.

Everyone around me cheered. When Drift's body was remembered the cheering turned to mourning. I couldn't mourn with them. Had anybody else died I think I would shed some tears.

Alisha ran over to Drift's body and screamed and sobbed. Sam put a heavy hand on both of her shoulders in a way of comfort and the autobots stood around the samurai's body. Ky and I stayed at our places, unmoving.

"What is it?" Ky put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's not over." I whispered. "He's still here. Unicron is…he will come back. I feel it."

Alisha insisted on burying the autobot at her house but Prime insisted on planting his body in the middle of nowhere. Primus took Unicron's body to the nearest star, our sun. However this revelation didn't at all make me feel better.

Bee and Sam never had their happy reunion. Sam had to go back to help Cade with my new hand so while Sam left us Bee, Prime, Crosshair, and Hound caravanned home. Ky reluctantly rode with Hound while I rode with Bee. The evil feeling wouldn't leave me even at home. He was still here. But where?


	28. The Forgotten Hall

Cade insisted he come over to try out a new hand. Each week he thought he had it right but each time it didn't work. This went on for months since the surgery I had to have surgery to connect the nerves to the machine.

Since I got my hand lopped off I sloppily wrote with my left hand and it turned out to be backwards. I wrote from right to left so it was hard to read if I needed or wanted to read it. It frustrated me so much that I tried to keep it away from me. The more I resisted the visions, however, the more often they came.

I allowed him to come over though I was reluctant. I wasn't convinced it would work. Ky and Sam hovered over me while Cade told me to do the same thing I did every time.

"Move your thumb," was the first exercise. I had to close my eyes to concentrate. I wasn't expecting to feel anything. "Now your index finger…your middle finger…" and so on like that. The last one was, "okay now make a fist." He sounded excited. Why? I opened one of my eyes a little and I saw it. I could make a fist!

"I…I did it." I breathed out the words with excitement.

"It's a start," Cade smiled. "But it'll get some getting used to. Your fingers aren't moving naturally yet. Just keep trying and I'll come back next week to see your progress."

I hugged Cade. "Thanks, Cade Yeager. You're a life saver."

Cade pat my head and I took that as a dismissal to show Bee my new hand. I moved it but Cade was right my hand didn't move naturally. It jerked forward or backward or sometimes to the side in a peculiar pattern and when I formed a fist my fingers didn't tuck in comfortably.

I shrugged. "It works, that's all that matters."

"So was cutting your hand off really worth it?" Hound spoke from behind Bee. He'd been quiet the whole time, relaxing in what little shade my house provided.

"It seemed like it at the time but…now I see it was probably stupid. I wasn't doing anyone any favors by provoking Unicron."

Unicron. The name sent a chill down my spine. I had avoided the name as if it were a curse if spoken aloud. I still felt his presence at my shoulder, forever watching me. He was a demon. No, he was the devil that every religion depicted. He was the true source of evil. His name choked me or could make my insides churn. I wasn't afraid of him as much as I was but even in death he made me watch every shadow for the day he came back and when he did he would play it smarter than he did this time. This time was a fluke, I was sure. He was out of practice. Or maybe he was setting the stage to create a demon more powerful than Galvatron had been.

Scourge still roamed the earth that much I knew, and as long as he was out in the world there would be more demons that would be created. We hadn't bothered trying to find him despite my insistence upon it.

"But you and I both know that she would do it all over again," Crosshair pointed an accusing finger at me. A smirk like a playful kitten or a smartass boy played at his mouth.

"Of course I would! If I could I would take the entire experience from the beginning." I looked down at my new hand that was made from their type of technology. No longer would this hand be warm.

"That is a good thing," Primus' voice stung a little. I still didn't like him but I don't think I hated him either. He was simply an annoying thorn that refused to come out. I think Bee sensed my feelings toward Primus and never provoked an attack but he was still tense. Crosshair stepped in between me and Bee casually.

"What are you going to do now?" This time when Primus kneeled and put his hand on the ground I stepped into it. There was something I saw in his body language and in his eyes. He seemed uneasy but he wouldn't tell that to the autobots who worked so hard to keep this world safe. Before he had time to answer my first question I added quietly, "You feel it, don't you? Unicron isn't dead, is he?"

Primus nodded slowly and reluctantly. "Yes. You see nobody really dies we just become apart of The One, Unicron and myself included."

I shook my head. "I don't know what The One is or means and I won't pretend I will but you and Unicron seem…different from the others that have died. Their presence doesn't linger. You two are more like…I don't know Zeus and Hades, I guess. Or the Christian God and Lucifer. Oh, I have it, Yin and Yang. Neither can exist without the other. I doubt you two will ever die." _Or maybe I feel that way because I don't want either of them to die. My life is too much fun with these two hanging around._

"So what will you do now?" I asked again.

"Do what I was doing before. Watch everyone on earth closely because your futures could become very hectic. The balance of the cosmos wasn't made for any of you to find each other but you did." He dropped me in Crosshair's hands and then he transferred me into Bee's hands. "But I will keep it balanced for now. Continue to prove your worth and maybe I'll allow the two species to continue to live out on one planet." I thought I saw a hint of a smile but it was so small that I was almost convinced I imagined it.

"Primus before you go, I just have one request." I paused and let the words hang in the air before I continued. "Take the twelve artifacts and hide them somewhere else. Having all thirteen here on earth is too much power."

"Which twelve?" Primus actually wasn't going to argue with me! I was relieved.

"All of the other ones except the Quill and Covenant. These two are to be left forgotten with me and Alpha Trion in the Hall of Records." I caught Crosshair's surprised face. I didn't even want to see how Bee was responding. I hadn't told anyone, not even Alisha, that I planned to disappear into the Hall of Records.

"You're leaving us?" Ky's voice was angry and harsh. When had he come from the house? He was more quiet than a mouse.

"I have to, Ky." I didn't want to look at him in the eyes. "This alone is obviously too much power. I need to hide it. I need to keep it safe."

"And you weren't planning on telling me this, I'm sure."

I flinched at the tone of his voice.

"Whether you like it or not I'm coming with you."

I was a little relieved that he didn't say something worse. "Fine," I half laughed. "That's just fine."

"What about us? What are we supposed to do or go?" Crosshair sounded almost offended.

"I'm leaving my house under Alisha's name," I told Crosshair. "You all can stay or leave however and whenever you like. And Alisha agreed that she would watch you guys and…keep you out of trouble." I finally looked at Bee who gave me a sad look. "You'll be okay without me, Bee," I promised him in a half whisper.

We watched Primus leave and disappear into the atmosphere. I didn't bother packing up my things. The only things Ky and I took with us was the clothes we wore, the credit card we needed to get things started in Russia, our plane tickets, and the evil presence of Unicron.


	29. Years later

Russia was cold. Colder than I remembered. At first arrival Ky and I wore four layers of jackets but after years and years we could walk hand in hand with only two layers.

I kept my robotic hand in a glove. It felt so much more natural now to have it. I could punch harder than before and my fingers didn't jerk so much when I moved them. In a glove hardly anybody saw the jerky movements. Cade stopped checking on me years ago.

The Hall of Records was still filled with thousands of books of the same color and thickness but with different histories. I would read them aloud to Ky or to myself or to that evil presence that always lingered.

The presence never faded and I often referred to it as Unicron. Some nights the presence felt stronger and I would have night terrors on these nights. Other nights the presence disappeared completely and I had the best nights sleep. I still had visions and daydreams but some of these were unsettling and some weren't visions at all. They were dreams that were simply too realistic but it pulled me in like my visions do.

Ky and I walked hand-in-hand through Moscow's shopping districts. The snow covered the city in a blanket that was colder than it appeared. I twisted the wedding ring with the fingers on my left hand.

"You're thinking of them again aren't you?" Ky knew me all too well. We sat at the tables outside of a small café.

I nodded. "Yes, I know how they're doing but sometimes I wish I could see it for myself."

Ky kneeled by me and wiped my cheeks. Had I been crying? I wiped my wet eyes.

"I hate crying," I whispered.

He laughed. Ky's laugh was warm and contagious.

"Why are you laughing?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You. You're too funny." He kissed my forehead. "What do you want?"

"The usual. Oh, decaf, though! Oh no wait, a hot chocolate! That might be better. With some…some…I don't know with something!"

Ky shook his head and muttered something about women being weird, I think. Before I could kick snow at him, though, he walked inside.

I stared down at my ring. It made me giggle. "Five years we've been out here," I told myself.

"I know, we've been counting the months since you left." This voice had just enough sarcasm in it to be Crosshair or Bee. The voice was young and cocky, though. I tilted my head up at Bee who stood awkwardly between the buildings.

My smile widened and I ran into his hand and hugged his face when I was close enough to it. "You found me," I whispered and I could feel warm tears running down my face.

"You can't hide from me. I'll always find you."

"Ah damn. And just when I thought I got rid of you!" Ky's voice was playful. "It took forever to convince her to marry me, you know, so don't you go getting in my way."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh Bee, there's so much to catch up on." I put my hand on my tummy. "There's so much."

He walked through Moscow forcing Ky to run if he wanted to keep up. He walked in silence while I wiped my tears. Something seemed wrong with him. Prime, Crosshair, and Hound were outside the city limits like always. They never seemed to want to attract attention to themselves yet somehow they constantly drew attention despite the precautions. The three autobots had the same air of alertness and a type of disappointment about them.

"What is it, Prime?"

Crosshair took up Ky and actually allowed him to sit on his shoulder much like how Bee or Prime would let me sit on theirs.

"We cannot find Scourge," Prime explained.

"Well that's good…right?" I looked at everyone. They didn't share my opinion.

"It isn't good. He can still bring back Unicron if he wants to." Hound explained. "We almost had 'im too!"

"Where did he go?" Ky still held the probably cold hot chocolate now.

"We're not sure. He just disappeared off of our radar."

Something about this didn't make sense to me. My stomach soured but I tried to swallow it down. Unicron's presence was suddenly strong, stronger than before. It felt like he was right above me, laughing. It felt like he was mocking me. It felt like he had never died. What if he never did? What if Unicron wasn't the one who died but Scourge was? What if when Galvatron raised Unicron he made his body improperly and Unicron, after killing his only loyal servants, made a new one? What if the entire time the "Unicron" we killed was Unicron's loyal servant Scourge? Scourge was dead and Unicron was alive.

I covered my mouth. "Oh god, Bee, I need to get down." As soon as his knuckles hit the snow my stomach emptied its contents. It took several minutes for it to stop. Everyone was alarmed. "I'm okay," I was panting and I sat on Bee's hand. "I'm fine," I insisted mostly for Ky's sake. Bee straightened slowly.

"Are you sick?" Hound peered at me closer.

Before I could answer Crosshair jumped back, "No, no, no, you stay right there."

Bee took the opportunity to mess with Crosshair. He brought me closer to him but it only made him back up and repeating 'no' several times. I had a feeling Crosshair wasn't being serious. Ky shook his head, laughing at them.

"Guys, she's fine!" Ky yelled over them. "It's just a bit of morning sickness."

"In the years I've known her not once has she gotten sick in the morning or whatever this morning sickness is." Crosshair complained.

"No, Crosshair, it isn't a sickness. He's saying I'm pregnant and in the first few months this is supposed to happen." Everyone but Prime gave me a funny look. "Okay do none of you know where human babies come from? Unlike you all we do have a sense of gender and we need both-"

"We know, we know, we know!" Crosshair yelled with Hound mimicking him. "But who-?" It seemed to hit him like a rock and he formed the words "how" on his lips.

"We got married a few years ago, guys. You expected us both to stay in Russia and nothing would happen?"

"Well yeah, kind of," Hound admitted sheepishly.

"Will you be okay here?" Bee seemed worried but whether it was for me or the baby I wasn't sure.

"Yes, Bee. We'll be fine but this isn't the point of the subject." I looked at Prime. "Do you feel Unicron's presence?"

"Like he never left."

"I don't think we killed Unicron. I think we killed Scourge. You've been trying to find the wrong decepticon the entire time…or whatever we're calling his side because I'm not even sure what to call it." Nobody else knew either.


	30. Forget meI am Optimus Prime

"I wish I could go with you," I told Ky as he packed up the gear he'd need to fight.

"I'm glad you aren't," he admitted.

Hound was the only one that stayed behind. Bee was the last one to leave. I sighed. "They're gonna have all the fun."

"I don't think we'll be missin' much. Just the same ol' shootin' and ridin'."

"Yeah. I miss that."

We continued to stand outside of the Hall in silent observation for a little while longer. "You should come back then," Hound finally broke the silence. "Alisha's great company but she's nothin' like you."

"I can't, Hound. Everything in here needs to be forgotten by everyone outside. Including you and the other autobots." I walked in the Hall of Records.

"Well that ain't gonna happen." He walked inside with me.

"I know. Trust me, I know." He helped me push the door closed.

"So when did you find out? About your baby, I mean."

I think he was trying to make conversation. "About two months ago." I was by no means a "tiny" woman before. The belly that was supposed to be showing didn't show as much as the weight gain.

I threw some logs onto the fire to keep it going. Hound sat in one of the huge chairs kicking up a huge cloud of dust. I sat near the fire and poked at it mainly for entertainment.

"Seems kind of…"

"Peaceful?"

"I was going to say boring."

I shrugged. "It can be nice. Moscow isn't that far either so we're able to either walk or drive depending on the whether." My back straightened at hearing the door. We looked at each other and both of us took our guns and walked to the door. It stood ajar and letting in the cold air.

Hound peeked out, shrugged and shut the door.

I turned on my heels and walked back. "Keep your guard up," I told him in a half whisper. "That door doesn't come open on it's-" Hound grunted and I had to roll out of the way. My robotic hand got pinned under his arm but it easily detached so I could roll to my feet. He was here, Scourge or Unicron or whoever he may be.

"You aren't really in a position to attack me." The transformer knocked me out of the way. The gun slid from my hand and my back hit the bookcase. I could feel a stirring in my belly. He was right, I didn't have a position to help out.

"I'm sorry, Hound." My hand went to my belly as if it were some armor.

He stood over Hound.

"I don't hold it against ya'. If I'm goin' down I'm-" He never finished his sentence. I jumped and looked away. I couldn't watch another one die. I couldn't think of it.

There was nothing for me to do except grab a Covenant and the Quill. I opened up to an empty spot in the book and wrote in the margins.

 _…and Primus arrived just before-_

He grabbed me quickly before I could write any more. I could see the words on the page were smudged. I frowned and tried in vain to be released from the grip. "You! You're Unicron!" I finally yelled when we were face to face.

"I will take great pride in watching your world collapse. Can you see it yet?" He threw me against the wall. I curled around my stomach to protect it. He threw me straight at one of the brick walls that separated a hallway. "And I will take great pride in watching you die." My ears rung with my screaming and my begging for him to spare the baby. One more throw and both of us would for sure lose our lives.

High pitch shots riddled his body and shortly after a sword came through his chest. Unicron bowed forward so that the sword nearly hit my nose. Primus and Hound were behind the now dead body of Unicron.

Hound came forward and gently picked me up. I couldn't hear them speak. I concentrated on anything in my belly. Any movement. Any sign that it was still in there. I started to panic. There was nothing. And then it moved and I felt relief rush through me so quickly that it made me dizzy.

"I thought he killed you!" I yelled at him.

"I thought so too but I moved just enough to make him think he pierced my spark."

As soon as Hound spread the word the others came back. Ky checked every inch of my body before he hugged me. Thankfully Hound was smart enough to tell them to pick up a new hand on the way here so I was able to reattach a new hand that same day.

Primus checked three, four, five times to make sure we really had Unicron. While Hound told stories of what happened I approached Primus. "He's gone," I assured him.

"He'll never truly be gone. I will always feel his presence living. However, if you can't feel it then that means he's really gone." He didn't smile, though.

"What is it?" I asked.

He knelt down. "I have seen your future. Your next choice will determine your fate as well as the little boy."

My eyes widened. "A…a boy? I'm having a boy?" We stared at each other for a long while.

"I know you were thinking about getting rid of him."

I didn't like the word he used. "I haven't talked to Ky about it yet. He'll probably try to convince me otherwise but the Quill…and the covenants…they all need to be forgotten. They need to disappear. But they won't disappear easily so the Hall of Records will need someone to make sure nobody ever discovers it. It needs guardians and my baby needs a normal life." I don't know why I felt the need to explain it all to him but once I had started I never stopped. "Primus, a long time ago you said you created us, all of us. The Thirteen humans for the Thirteen Transformers. What did you mean?"

Primus gave a very quiet chuckle. "I did not think you remembered." His face became dark. "If you know the truth you may hate me."

"Take the chance anyway," it wasn't a request but he took it like one.

"I knew Unicron would come back and try to destroy your solar system. I needed to make warriors. I looked into the future and I saw thirteen humans that could change the world but each of you needed a push. I sent a few small drones to your house. They set fire to your house and trapped your parents inside. That was the push I knew you needed."

A spark lit in my heart. The hate and bitterness was back but it all disappeared all too quickly. I wanted to hate him but I couldn't. I didn't have the energy because I needed to put my energy into another place.

"And after you your child will have to take over. I have seen a new enemy emerging in the distant future. Letting him go will be the push he needs to become the next thirteen."

Primus left as soon as the commotion died down. While the autobots slept I explained to Ky my idea. He didn't fight as hard as I expected him to and finally he said, "What if we have other kids?"

"Then we'll keep them to continue to be a guardian."

"Why just get rid of this one?"

"He's been through too much, Ky. I nearly lost him today and I realized he needs a normal life. All of our babies will need normal lives but I just…I just have this feeling that we need to let him go. I can't explain why, Ky."

He put a hand on my cold, metal one. "Then…we will but only if you can tell me what this feeling you have is."

I nodded and rubbed my tummy.

It took months for the vision to come. It was a vision of the earth. In one vision I kept the baby boy but he used the Quill to resurrect Unicron years and years later. In another vision he had a happy life, daydreaming about what could have been and leading a very happy life. However, there was still a hint that new decepticon-like transformers would still appear in his life.

Every vision afterward was always hazy and always came in pairs or sets of three but one theme held that Prime would no longer be around and Bee would be forced to take over as leader. If Drift could see that he would kill himself or someone else.

Shortly after the baby was born I gave him to Prime. Prime didn't understand-couldn't understand-why I had to do this. "His name is Alexander Fisher. Please, give him to an orphanage, a good one. I don't care where just anywhere will do but please, make sure it's a good one." But I knew, despite me asking him, that he would give him to my sister.

Bee looked saddened at leaving us. "You can never come back, guys. Just forget we exist except when the world is in so much danger that you will need help. The day will come. I have seen it but it will depend on certain choices you make, Bee." Nobody would understand except for Prime when the time comes. Primus would need help in the future and ask for Prime's help because only a Prime will be able to help him.

The last thing I saw as they walked away were the big, red doors closing and the bolt slid home.

* * *

 _Life is an unpredictable demon. We cannot choose the life we are born into but we can direct our lives. Life is beautiful, even in hardships. These hardships are what make us unique and our own. We make our own luck. Luck is only something the humans have made up to make themselves feel better but luck doesn't exist. It is purely you in hard work._

 _I am Optimus Prime and I send this message to the future Alexander who may one day follow in his mother's footsteps. Take great care of your life and take nothing for granted, Alexander, for your life is even more precious than you think…_


End file.
